With rumors circulating that Cristiano Ronaldo was set to wed his longtime partner Georgina Rodríguez in his hometown of Funchal on the Portuguese island of Madeira on Saturday, hundreds of fans and well-wishers flocked to the cathedral to catch a glimpse of the celebrity couple on their big day.
Ronaldo’s family had publicly denied that he was preparing to get married over the weekend, but that didn’t stop droves of fans gathering in the center of Funchal in the hope of seeing their hero tie the knot.
Unfortunately, despite widespread media reports that the Portugal captain had scheduled a lavish, star-studded event for that afternoon, the gathered masses were left disappointed. It soon emerged that the wedding taking place at the Sé Cathedral was not that of Ronaldo and Rodríguez, but of a different couple entirely.
As people lined the streets outside with their phones and cameras held aloft, the realisation quickly set in when the bride — who, as is traditional, arrived slightly late — was not Georgina. Instead, a woman named Nicole arrived in order to marry husband-to-be Fábio, who was waiting at the altar inside.
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This was later confirmed by the cathedral, via a post on its official Facebook page which read: “Congratulations to the couple Nicole and Fábio. After a lot of confusion on the street with so many journalists and tourists, we finally managed to close the church and celebrate.”
Another post accompanying images of the crowd outside the cathedral as Nicole arrived, read: “We’ve never seen anything like this here in Sé. It was very difficult for the bride to enter the Sé church to get married.”
Having been forced to contend with a level of interest that they had not really expected, some guests of the happy couple were at least able to see the funny side of the chaos created by the speculation over Ronaldo.
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“We feel like celebrities,” one guest joked to local news outlet Diario de Noticias da Madeira. “I find it impressive that these people think Ronaldo would get married today without security.”
Ronaldo himself was also able to laugh about it, commenting on an Instagram post from Jornal da Madeira with a series of cry-laughing emojis.
However, the Al Nassr forward has remained quiet on when he and Georgina actually plan to get wed.
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The pair got engaged in August of last year, with Ronaldo giving Georgina a ring estimated the stone to be as large as 30 carats and worth up to $5 million.
But, despite all of the global attention on a wedding surrounding two people who were not even there, the day belonged to the happy couple who got a slightly larger congregation than they had anticipated.
Parabéns pelo Casamento, Nicol e Fábio!
