Single? Forgive? In any case: complicated. This is the best way to describe the current relationship status of Cathy and Mats Hummels. However, the couple is not entirely innocent in this, our editors find.
Once upon a time there was a happy marriage. Cathy, 34, and Mats Hummels, 33, met and fell in love in 2007, and in 2015 they said yes. Three years later, their son Ludwig crowned their happiness.
Cathy + Mats Hummels ignore crisis rumors
But in 2021 the first dark clouds gathered over the marriage of the former dream couple, various media reported on a separation, Mats and Cathy Hummels never commented personally. With ambiguous Instagram comments and harmonious family photos, however, they emphasize that their son will always come first and that they are there for him together. But now headlines surrounding Mats’ alleged new girlfriends are overshadowing family bliss.
Opinion: The relationship chaos could have been prevented
In the summer of 2021, the “Bild am Sonntag” wants to have heard from football circles that Cathy and Mats Hummels have finally separated. A message that has been the subject of much speculation, but has never been commented on by those affected. To this day, Mats and Cathy Hummels are silent about the headlines surrounding their marriage. When asked by GALA, Cathy’s management responded with the one-liner: “Unfortunately, this request remains unanswered on our part. Thank you for your understanding.” Mats Hummels has not yet replied (as of April 12, 2022, 4:00 p.m.).
But maybe they don’t have to do that anymore. And that’s exactly what I think (editor Annkristin Engelbrecht) is wrong. Mats and Cathy Hummels have been deprived of the decision to personally comment on the rumor mill because they waited too long.
Mats Hummels is said to have had a relationship with table tennis player Lisa Straube last year, and the influencer still indicates a relationship with the BVB player on Instagram. But she doesn’t seem to be the only one the athlete has his eye on. Céline Bethmann, 23, GNTM winner from 2017 and model, currently seems to be Mats’ chosen one. In addition to a romantic “Dinner Date” and the statement “Yes, we are dating”, it was also the 23-year-old who published a private message from the footballer on Instagram, in which he clearly confirmed that he was single. “But before I set off, there’s one more thing I need to know [sic]”, the model wrote to Mats and then asked the crucial question: “Are you single?” The footballer didn’t hesitate and replied: “Oh god yes. Otherwise I won’t invite you.”
A bang. So far, neither Cathy nor Mats have named their relationship status so specifically and even now it was not the couple who finally cleared up rumors about their marriage and created clear facts, but Celine Bethmann. Instead, the Hummels continue to happily participate in tabloid reporting with posed family photos or cryptic comments and deliver new headlines.
Mats and Cathy have now missed the point of finally making a clean sweep. If the two had issued an official statement after their separation, they would of course still be of interest to the media, but there would be no drama. You’d just be a regular ex-couple letting new people into their lives after a breakup. What Cathy and Mats Hummels do instead is a conscious play with the media and a struggle for attention. Knowing full well that we will always keep in touch.
The healing process can begin with the “purest and dearest soul”.
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Opinion: When a footballer’s privacy meets a 23-year-old influencer, disaster is inevitable
Yes, Cathy and Mats Hummels understand the game with the media like no other German celebrity couple (or rather ex-couple). And yet, in my eyes (editor Jenifer Nadolski), this game is the right of the footballer and the presenter. Cathy shares a lot, but only what she thinks belongs in the public domain. A limit that is different for every person. For Cathy Hummels, this line was clearly the failure of her marriage. Was it another wave of hate that she wanted to avoid? Only the 34-year-old knows that. And yet suddenly the separation is in the headlines. The reason? A 23-year-old GNTM winner who took the right to relieve Mats and Cathy of the “burden”. The word “tactless” is an understatement here.
Celine Bethmann described herself as a “bitch in her clique” when she ran for “Germany’s Next Top Model” in 2017. She would love the attention, be the center of attention and say what she thinks. Well, for the private life of the 23-year-old, it is up to her to act according to these principles. But to expose the life of a man with whom she has apparently only had one or two dates is outrageous – if not downright cold. Because it’s not just about the lives of Mats and Cathy. It’s also about a four-year-old son, for whom the former couple does everything. After all, it could be that the Hummels family did not go public for precisely this reason – to spare Ludwig this media hype. Even if the little one doesn’t tap or read the media himself, one thing is certain: he will notice how upset his mother is following the headlines.
Don’t get me wrong: If the couple is indeed separated and Mats Hummels is looking for a new love, then he should find happiness. Also in Céline Bethmann, if you like. But only when the footballer – and no one else – is 100 percent sure that he wants to present his new partner to the public, then HE can do so.
Sharing the private chat history and thus announcing the end of a couple’s marriage that didn’t see themselves ready for it – in my opinion, that’s not to be outdone in terms of impertinence and tactlessness. In addition: Even if the BVB star should now see a future for himself and Céline, Cathy Hummels will certainly never play Happy Patchwork Family with this woman. I don’t blame her.