Blending families is a journey filled with love, learning, and plenty of adjustments. It’s about bringing together different backgrounds, parenting styles, and traditions to create something new—a home built on understanding and connection.

For Married at First Sight Mzansi couple Litsoanelo Seturumane and Khutso Mokoena, merging their families meant taking things one step at a time, allowing their children to ease into the transition at their own pace.

 

Today, Litsoanelo’s son, Zion, and Khutso’s daughter, Omphile, share a beautiful bond. Khutso fondly shares that Zion has even started playfully calling Omphile his sister—an organic connection that blossomed naturally, just as they had hoped.

 

The duo was part of the fan-favourite debut season, where thousands tuned in to watch them—and three other couples—say ‘I do’ at first sight. While it made for gripping entertainment, for them, it was the start of a life-changing journey.

 

“The two children are complete opposites, with Omphile being extremely timid. At first, she would hide behind Khutso’s leg when she arrived and it took her a while to warm up to me. But now, she walks in like she’s right at home—she’ll run to me first and then go find Zion,” Litsoanelo shares, adding that even the transition between her and her son came with its own challenges.

 

“Having Khutso in the house has been difficult for Zion at times because he gets jealous. He’d say I don’t talk to him and only talk to Khutso,” she admits. Since Omphile is primarily raised by her mother and Zion is with Litsoanelo full-time, balancing these dynamics has required patience and open communication.

“Honestly, we’re just winging it,Khutso adds. “There are moments when one child seems to need more attention than the other, and we have to navigate that in real time. There’s no strict formula—we just go where the noise is. If both of them are crying, we divide and conquer. If one is upset, we both run to that one. We’re still figuring it out as we go.”

 

But even with their ‘winging it’ approach, they’ve realised the importance of having a foundation—something stable to build their blended family on.

 

Khutso acknowledges that their parenting styles are quite different, which sometimes leads to clashes.

“We’re extremely different. Dee thinks I’m too strict and that feels I should go easier on them, whereas I think she’s too sweet or lenient. So we try to meet in the middle, but every now and then, we disagree. But we’re constantly adjusting, learning and trying to find what works best for our family.”

 

Seeing their children bond and seamlessly blend into each other’s lives has been a heartwarming win for Litsoanelo and Khutso. Moments like Omphile sweetly calling Dee ‘mommy’ and Zion excitedly running to Khutso when he gets home from work make all the challenges of blending their family worthwhile.

 

“When I walk in, Zion runs up to me, and I’ll pick him up by the legs and toss him around,” Khutso shares fondly. “The only real adjustment is that there’s now one additional child in the house, but it hasn’t been a challenge in terms of personality or fitting into our family dynamic,” he shares fondly.

 

Both kids are also raised by their other parent; the key is to allow each person to parent their way; with the couple determined on creating their own rules and traditions.

 

The past 2 Christmases, each individual spent theirs at their own family home. The couple has now decided to spend this upcoming Christmas together, introducing traditions like matching pjamas and putting the tree up together.

And while the idea of having children together was always part of their conversations, the couple admits that lately, it has become a sensitive topic.

 

“I’m not certain right now because I’d have the capacity for it (having a baby),” Dee shares honestly.

Life after marriage has felt vastly different for the two. For Dee, things have largely remained the same, while Khutso says his world has shifted in unexpected ways.

“I’ve always been active on social media, and that hasn’t changed. But if I feel like taking a break for a few days, I just do. Yes, people recognize me in public and say hi, but I wouldn’t say my life has changed drastically,” Dee explains.

Khutso, on the other hand, has found himself stepping into a new reality. Previously, he could go months without posting, but now he feels a shift.

“I don’t know if I have to be active or if it just comes with the territory. Once people know who you are, there seems to be this expectation to be online. I generally like keeping to myself—I’ve always been the quiet guy in the corner—but that has changed because now, one or two people will come up and say hi,” he shares.

The most rewarding part of being married, for the pair, is not playing guesswork, said Khutso.

“Previously, when you were with someone, you’d wonder if you two had the same goals; you wondered if what they were saying was actually what they wanted and whether they shared the same desires of getting married.

 

“So at least now you don’t have to wonder or have that question at the back of your head,” adding also that the unconditional support is rewarding, to which Dee concurs.

 

With their very unique situation in mind, Khutso shares that his biggest takeaway from the entire experience of creating blended families is that the other party needs to trust their partner and give up control for them to parent as well.

 

“Let them be your partner; you don’t have to do it alone anymore. So you need to give up control in order for that to happen,” he said.