Cristiano Ronaldo responds after false wedding alarm draws thousands in Madeira

Cristiano Ronaldo has mocked speculation that he had secretly married Georgina Rodriguez after thousands of supporters gathered in the streets of Funchal, Madeira, believing the couple’s wedding ceremony was about to take place.

The crowd had arrived on Saturday expecting to see the Portugal captain and his fiancee celebrate their marriage. It later emerged, however, that the wedding was for another couple, rather than Ronaldo and Rodriguez.

Ronaldo added a humorous twist to the confusion by reacting to an Instagram post from Jornal de Madeira. The Al-Nassr forward responded with an emoji showing intense laughter, appearing to make light of the rumours surrounding his relationship.

His reaction came one year after he announced his engagement to Rodriguez. The pair first met in 2016, and speculation about the timing and nature of their wedding has continued since their engagement became public.

Ronaldo’s sister, Elma Aveiro, took a more serious view of the claims. Writing on the same social media platform, she questioned why people believed her brother would marry without announcing the occasion himself.

“Why do these people think that Ronaldo would get married without ever announcing it himself?” she wrote.

The footballer has previously suggested that his wedding will not be a large-scale event. He has said Rodriguez would prefer a more intimate celebration, comments that have fuelled speculation that the couple could choose to marry privately and away from public attention.

According to French broadcaster RMC, that possibility has helped create rumours that a secret ceremony could already be planned. Despite the incident in Funchal, speculation in Madeira has not disappeared, with some reports continuing to suggest that Ronaldo and Rodriguez could marry during the current summer, possibly within the next few days.

The rumours intensified after reports claimed that 25 taxis with tinted windows had been booked. Other sources said the wedding could take place “next week”, prompting renewed interest in the possibility that the couple might soon hold a private ceremony.

Those claims could lead to another gathering in Funchal during the next weekend, with supporters once again attempting to discover whether Ronaldo and Rodriguez are the couple at the centre of the celebrations.

For now, Saturday’s scenes ended with the crowds watching the wedding of an unidentified couple instead. The episode has left Madeira facing the same unanswered question: will the next much-anticipated ceremony involve Ronaldo and Rodriguez, or will the island once again be celebrating the marriage of two people unknown to the waiting public?