England rugby captain Maro Itoje has spoken about his 'wonderful' wedding to model Mimi and the couple's lavish Nigerian celebration in London. The 6ft 6in Saracens and British & Irish Lions star married Mimi at Farm Street Church in Mayfair in May, followed by a traditional Nigerian ceremony in Covent Garden in August, featuring Urhobo dress, food and rituals reflecting his family's tribe.
Itoje, 31, described 2025 as 'a wonderful year in many respects', with the personal highlight being his marriage. He said: 'Even though we were already married, I went in with my groomsmen and formally asked Mimi's family for their permission to marry her. Then we had a big, very fun party.' Mimi added that the couple have only been experiencing married life at home in London for the past three or four months, as Itoje had to travel to Australia for the Lions tour straight after the May wedding.
The couple, who met through mutual friends, are now both wearing matching unisex earrings bearing the initials 'MI' with a teardrop-shaped diamond from Astrea London, the lab-grown diamond brand for which Itoje was named the first male ambassador last month. He also holds a stake in the brand. 'I'm comfortable wearing jewellery as a man,' he said, noting that his love of jewellery is a link to his Nigerian heritage, a culture where men have long embraced jewellery as self-expression.
Itoje, who attended Harrow School and holds a degree in politics and an MBA, said his Nigerian identity 'helped form the lens through which I see the world'. His parents, Efe and Florence, came from Nigeria in the early 1990s. Sadly, 2025 was also marked by profound loss: his mother, whom he described as 'the glue and heartbeat of our family', died in December. He recently missed an England training camp to travel to Nigeria for her funeral, calling it 'by far the biggest and most painful loss I have ever experienced'.
Mimi, 32, is a successful model, chartered forensic accountant and painter whose works were featured at the Royal College of Art last year. Art is a shared passion for the couple; Itoje recalled being 'taken aback by the colour' of African paintings when his parents took him to an art market in Nigeria. The couple now live in London.
