In his 82 years of life, Pelé left countless fans around the world for his talent as a player. Off the pitch, the King of Football also left an impact – even if not always positive.
In April 1969, when Brazil was preparing to compete in the 1970 World Cup, in which it would become the first three-time champion in history, Pelé met administrator Lenita Kurtz. They had few dates, but it was enough for the 22-year-old to get pregnant and have Flavia. When she turned 18, her mother told her whose daughter she was and, after a DNA test, the player recognized paternity.
Pelé married for the first time at the age of 26, with Rosemari de Reis Cholbicon, with whom he had three children: Kely, Jennifer, and Edson — who would later go by the name Edinho in his attempt to establish himself as a football player. The relationship lasted about 16 years, and they broke up, after several back and forth, in 1982.
Later, at the age of 41, Pelé was invited to do an essay for a magazine and on set he met the models Xuxa, who was only 17 years old, and Luiza Brunet. He tried to approach Luiza, but as she was married, he dismissed the former player’s advances. Thus, he became interested in the then teenager Xuxa Meneghel, and the two engaged in a courtship that lasted six years. It was only in recent years that the presenter revealed that during their time together, Pelé cheated on her several times.
“I was betrayed from head to toe. To the point of looking at him and once he had red lipstick on his mouth and I wasn’t wearing lipstick. It was normal for him. I was very young and had no experience, what he said I thought was true. He was my almost first everything. And I thought it was normal to cheat – said the presenter in an interview in 2020.
In 1991, young Sandra Regina, aged 27, filed a lawsuit demanding recognition of Pelé’s paternity. She was the daughter of the former player with maid Anizia Machado, with whom he never confirmed that he had a relationship. Even after a DNA test that proved that the former player was really the young woman’s father, he never assumed it and tried to get closer to his daughter. She told the whole story in the book “A Filha Que O Rei Não Quis”, and died prematurely at the age of 45 from breast cancer, without having counted on her father’s help during her medical treatment.
Five years later, the former player got married for the second time. Assiria Lemos Seixas, who adopted the name Assíria Nascimento, was a gospel singer and was the woman who spent the most time with Pelé. From the union, which lasted 14 years, the twins Joshua and Celeste were born, the youngest children of the former player.
In 2016, Pelé got married for the third and final time. He already knew businesswoman Marcia Cibele Aoki since the 1980s, but they only started to have a relationship in 2012. They got married on the south coast of São Paulo in a small event, for approximately 100 guests. Marcia accompanied the former player during the treatment against cancer and was by his side until the final moments.
