Rachel Kolisi hopped on a TikTok trend last week and, in doing so, reminded everyone exactly where she is right now. The trend asks users to complete the phrase “my favourite animal is me when”, with something they are proud of. Rachel’s answer: doing everything she said she would.
The video was accompanied by behind-the-scenes footage from recent photoshoots — luminous, self-possessed and entirely at ease. The comments section had thoughts.
@rachelkolisi @BonaMag ♬ A Milli – Album Version (Explicit) – Lil Wayne
The internet had a lot to say
Fans were quick to name what they were seeing as a post-divorce glow up, and they were not understated about it. Hayibo MaRache, waske wayi Baddie, wrote one follower. I love when a bad b**** comes out to play right after divorce, wrote another.
Others went deeper. Ain’t nothing more dangerous than a woman who sat with her pain, worked through it, took the punches and kept growing, read one comment that gathered significant traction. She done done now. Getcha life, Ms Rachel.
Another captured the broader sentiment: We don’t just do rebounds. We fix, glow up and heal. Go Rachel. Get it all.
The journey that got her here
Rachel and Siya Kolisi announced their divorce in October 2024 after eight years of marriage. Together they raised four children — their biological children Nicholas, 11, and Keziah, 8, as well as Siya’s younger siblings Liyema and Liphelo, whom the couple legally adopted in 2014 following the death of their mother.
Rachel stepped into that parenting role at 24, was navigating a BnB job while her son was too young for crèche, and has spent the better part of a year working through the very public ending of her marriage while writing a book, going on a national tour and launching a new foundation.
The glow up, in other words, did not happen overnight. It was earned.
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