Glam Guru Hannon and husband split up after 30 years

Television personality, makeup artist and stylist, Hannon Bothma (also known as Glam Guru) and his husband, Julius Swart, have sent out a statement announcing their divorce, taking friends, fans and clients by surprise.

In the statement, they say that the divorce will be to the advantage of Julius Swart Promotions trading as HANNON.

The celebrity couple met each other in the 90s when Hannon was a hairdresser at the Mount Nelson Hotel in Cape Town and Julius – a marketing guru – got his haircuts there. They soon started working closely together and in 1997 – just after Hannon launched his first hair and makeup studio in Cape Town, they joined forces. Hannon might be the face of the HANNON brand, but Julius is the business brain behind it and together they have been building an empire.

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The statement sent to friends, clients and media reads: “Although our two main partners, Julius and Hannon have decided to split up on a personal level, this will have no negative influence on events, future plans or marketing strategies of this steadfast and much-loved brand.”

Hannon and Julius got married in 2018 after a “season of death” on Julius’s side. His mother passed away that September. One of their close friends, Chris Jacobs, also died from a lung disease not long after and Jacobs’ partner, Roger Govender then committed suicide. One of Julius’s aunts also passed away. “It was just a time in which everyone died,” Julius told Netwerk24 at the time.

Apart from wanting to lift the spirits with a wedding, Hannon and Julius also agreed that getting married made financial sense at the time. According to Julius, when you’re not married, your estate tax is about 90%. When you are married, that falls away. “Therefore, it was time,” he told Netwerk24.

The news of the celebrity couple’s divorce – days before Valentine’s Day – came as a surprise to many and fans have been commenting on their Instagram accounts, saying that they are sad to hear about it and that they hope they can stay friends.

Hannon shared a photo of himself and Julius five weeks ago, captioning it by saying: “Every day we challenge each other. It will be incorrect to say that it is always an easy ride, but it is the ride we both chose to make us stronger and to make this life a kinder and better place. I still don’t know who is the Ying and who is the Yang?”