Deanne to stick with Andre Nel

Deanne Weitz, the wife of former Proteas cricketer André Nel, finally spoke publicly yesterday about the cheating scandal that has embroiled her husband, saying she would stand by him.

Weitz, who has been married to Nel since 2004, spoke on Talk Radio 702 about how hurt she was by the exposure last week of her husband's infidelity.

Weitz, who is expecting the couple's first child in April, said she was hurt by the people who were quick to judge her life and decide what actions she should take.

"André and I have done a series of counselling. We've done our fighting, we've done our crying, we've done it and we've sorted it out," she said.

"You guys just dragged it up and rubbed salt in a very sensitive wound.

"It's not suitable that the whole of South Africa knows what is going on in my life and they seem to be enjoying it," she said.

On Wednesday, The Times broke the news of Nel's affair with 34-year-old Londoner Jelena Kultiasova.

The sportsman admitted to the liaison, which ended on September 20. He said that he and Kultiasova "were friends with benefits".

On Thursday, two more women, a 29-year-old from Durban and 38-year-old single mother, Juliette, from London, came forward with salacious details of love trysts they claimed to have had with the cricketer.

The women gave The Times raunchy pictures of themselves and Nel.

They said they had told Weitz about their affairs on social networking site Facebook, but she had dismissed their claims.

Weitz admitted to 702 talk show host Redi Tlhabi that she had spoken to the women and had known for some time about the affairs.

"I'm actually sad that these women needed to go and do this, just to get their 15 minutes of fame. They got nothing out of it except for ripping my heart out of my soul again," Weitz said.

Nel reportedly tried to commit suicide on Friday.

Weitz told Beeld newspaper that her husband was "not in any harm but was picked up by ambulances at their Pretoria home".

But she refused to comment yesterday about the reported suicide attempt.

"I don't want to comment on that, André has hit rock bottom and he's lower than any person could be in his life. For a man, he is in a very, very bad place," she said on radio.

"He needs the support of his true friends and not the criticism of the country," she said.

Weitz denied reports that she had moved out of their home.

She said Nel had left home to be with his parents because he and she needed time to "clear our heads and find a way forward".

"I don't think anyone can understand what I am going through. Every little dirty detail of my private life is slandered across the country.

"I still love him. I'm extremely angry, extremely hurt, extremely confused, but I love him and we still need to decide what he is going to do and what I am going to do," she said.

"He needs to rectify his way back to God."

Nel's phone went unanswered yesterday.