Cristiano Ronaldo reacts as false wedding rumour overwhelms Funchal cathedral

Hundreds of tourists and journalists gathered outside the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption in Funchal, Madeira, after mistakenly believing Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodriguez were due to get married there.

The crowd arrived at the Portuguese footballer’s birthplace expecting to witness what many thought would be a major moment in his personal life. Instead, the wedding taking place inside the cathedral was for an ordinary couple, Nicole and Fabio, who have no connection with the football star.

The unusual scene unfolded last Saturday after rumours circulated throughout the previous week in the media and on social media claiming Ronaldo would marry his long-term partner in Madeira at the weekend.

The story prompted large numbers of curious spectators to travel to the cathedral, creating confusion around the genuine wedding ceremony and making it difficult for the bride to enter the building.

According to local newspaper Jornal de Madeira, which reports on events across the island, the area surrounding the cathedral became packed with people hoping to see Ronaldo’s wedding.

“The church square was filled with a crowd of people who had gathered in the hope of watching Cristiano Ronaldo’s wedding, after information spread across several media outlets,” the newspaper reported.

Portuguese news channel SIC Noticias also published video showing hundreds of spectators and journalists gathered around the entrance to the cathedral.

Cathedral officials said they had never experienced anything similar before. In a statement posted on the cathedral’s official Facebook page, they expressed their surprise at the events and explained that the genuine bride had struggled to get inside because of the size of the crowd.

“The bride faced great difficulty entering the church,” the statement said.

In a later message, the cathedral administration offered “our best wishes to the bride and groom, Nicole and Fabio”.

It added: “After widespread chaos in the street caused by journalists and tourists, we were finally able to close the church doors and celebrate the wedding normally.”

Ronaldo responds

The incident also reached Ronaldo, who appeared to find the misunderstanding amusing.

The 41-year-old reacted to an Instagram post by Jornal de Madeira with a series of laughing emojis, making clear that the reports about his supposed wedding were unfounded.

Ronaldo and Rodriguez have been in a relationship for several years and have children together. However, the couple have not officially announced any plans to marry, despite continuing speculation in the media.

The rumour nonetheless drew enough attention to transform a routine local wedding into a major gathering outside one of Funchal’s best-known religious landmarks.

For Nicole and Fabio, their arrival at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption was met not by guests waiting for their ceremony, but by a crowd expecting one of the world’s most famous footballers. They eventually managed to enter and hold their wedding after the cathedral’s doors were closed and the commotion outside subsided.