Former Kaizer Chiefs striker-turned-businessman Nkosinathi Nhleko allegedly tried to commit suicide, faked his grandmother's death and was almost arrested in the US after beating his then wife Thandeka.

According to her, he also beat her on several occasions in their multimillion-rand home in Meyersdal Estate, south of Johannesburg, and she was rescued by the estate's security guards on many occasions.

Nhleko was allegedly also in a "vat-en-sit" relationship behind his former wife's back with a KwaZulu-Natal woman when he was playing for Thanda Zulu Royal in Durban.

He also played for Jomo Cosmos and Bafana Bafana, and in Norway and the US, where he allegedly faked heart attacks to draw her sympathy when she threatened to leave him over his shenanigans.

These startling claims were made by Thandeka in a long e-mail she sent to Sunday World, explaining for the first time why she red-carded the retired soccer star.

Now, the Diski Diva 2014 cast member has sought legal advice as she wants Nhleko to face the full might of the law for own goals he supposedly scored during their troubled marriage.

In his response, Nhleko, said Thandeka was just jealous of his new wife. "All these stories come now because I just got married to my new wife. I'm hearing all these for the first time from you," he said. "This woman must just move on as I have already moved on with my life. Let her go and press charges against me, we will meet in court."

Thandeka said Nhleko was a "Frankenstein's monster".

"In 2003, when we stayed in the US, he was almost arrested by the Dallas police after I had dialled 911 trying to report him but I never got to speak on the phone because he struck me on the head and I passed out," she said. "What I didn't know was that the 911 department traced the address and dispatched a team of officers to our home.

"In less than 10 minutes about 10 officers stormed into our house and ordered him to stay put as six other officers checked every room inside the house," she stated. "I was visibly terrified at the thought of him being arrested in a foreign country. I told the police officers it was just a misunderstanding and that we're fine.

"He was firmly warned if he ever laid a finger on me, he'd be jailed," the e-mail stated. "Soon after they left he'd make me feel guilty, saying how dare I want to get him arrested in a foreign country after everything he'd done for me.

"He often made me remember that incident years later."

She says the beatings continued in their house after they returned to South Africa.

"Nathi would beat me up and strangle me," she said, adding Nhleko also attempted to end it all after one of their squabbles. "He had two suicide attempts during the period we separated while staying in the same house, all because he'd realised I was leaving him, finally."

She also claims he faked his grandmother's death and heart attacks in a desperate bid to stop her from reporting or leaving him.

Thandeka said she was seeking legal counsel about the footie's alleged past abuse.

"I met with a family advocate who told me I can still file cases of abuse - even as an ex-spouse, and I do have witnesses, ranging from former mistresses to security guards at our former estate in Meyersdal."

Recalling the KZN woman Nhleko cohabited with, she said: "In 2009 [the] woman got him arrested for domestic abuse. He spent a night at a Durban police station, but she later withdrew the charges."

"He stayed with her while married to me, when he played for Thanda Royal Zulu.

In November 26 2003, Nhleko, accompanied by then new wife Thandeka, appeared in an Ermelo court on a child maintenance case. His accuser was a college student, and the child involved was aged five.