Jackie Matubia Responds to Online Jabs with Grace and Wit

Jackie Matubia, known for her candor and confidence, recently found herself trending online after joining a popular TikTok challenge featuring a cheeky Tanzanian song that playfully references “stealing husbands.” The post drew mixed reactions, including a sharp comment from one user who remarked, “Ndio maana wako akaenda” (“That’s why yours left”).

True to form, Matubia responded swiftly and unapologetically. Instead of a lengthy retort, she used lyrics from King Kaka’s “Soko” to make her point: “Peleka feelings zako kwa Ruto…” (“Take your feelings over there”). Her caption read, “Buy a dictionary to understand the meaning of lip sync or challenge. Feelings, take them there.”

This isn’t the first time the actress has addressed public scrutiny about her personal life. In a November 2024 interview with Dr. Ofweneke, she revealed she had chosen celibacy for nearly three years after her breakup with fellow actor Blessing Lung’aho, father of her youngest daughter, Zendaya.

“I stayed celibate for almost three years. I didn’t want anything,” she shared, emphasizing that the time allowed her to heal and focus on raising her children.

Having experienced two high-profile breakups, Matubia has become an outspoken advocate for emotional wellness and honest conversations around love and motherhood. She often cautions young women against the belief that pregnancy can secure a relationship:
“For girls who think getting pregnant will keep a man, just know you’ll end up raising that child alone.”

Her relationship with Lung’aho had once appeared picture-perfect. In February 2022, they joyfully announced their pregnancy on Valentine’s Day, followed by an engagement in April. “He proposed, and I said yes! I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life laughing and loving you always,” she had posted at the time.

But as the relationship unraveled, Matubia took a firm stance. “When I told the dad to go, he left. And this wasn’t the first time I was raising a child outside of marriage,” she said. “I tried to fight for his involvement in our daughter’s life—but you can’t force a man to be present if he doesn’t want to be.”

In contrast, she maintains a healthy co-parenting relationship with her first child’s father. “We’re very good friends,” she said. “At the end of the day, a man who truly shows up for his child—that’s what matters most.”

Opening up about her emotional journey post-breakup, Matubia admitted to wrestling with bitterness. “I wanted him to suffer the way I did,” she confessed. But over time, her perspective shifted. “I had to ask myself: Is my child’s well-being worth all this back-and-forth? The answer was a clear no—hakuna haja.”