Maro Itoje’s summer of celebrations continued on Friday with his Nigerian wedding party to model wife Mimi.
The couple married in May but their full celebrations had to be put on hold as Itoje had the small matter of captaining the British and Irish Lions tour to Australia this summer.
The lock led the Lions to a famous 2-1 series Down Under and having returned to the UK earlier this month, he could turn his attention back to celebrating his new maritial status.
And the 30-year-old did that in style at the Devere Grand Connaught Rooms in London on Friday, surrounded by friends and family.
There were some famous faces in attendance as some of Itoje’s team-mates from Saracens, England and the Lions partied donning the traditional Nigerian dress code.
Among those in attendance were Alex Lozowski (Saracens), Elliot Daly (Saracens, England and Lions), Ollie Lawrence (England), Nick Isiekwe (Saracens and England), Marcus Smith (England and Lions) , Ben Earl (Saracens, England and Lions) – who could all be seen dancing for a TikTok video by Andy Onyeama-Christie (Saracens) at the bash.
Rugby union star Maro Itoje celebrated his Nigerian wedding to wife Mimi on Friday in London
The happy couple, were married in May, but held a Nigerian celebration just a few days ago
Itoje and his wife Mimi were an array of delight as they danced in various traditional Nigerian attire.
Reflecting on the day, Itoje captioned an Instagram post with: ‘Uhrobo culture to the world…
‘In case you haven’t realised I had my traditional Nigerian wedding last weekend… A time was had.’
Mimi is a model and artist and was in Australia to celebrate her husband’s success with the Lions.
In captaining the Lions to a series win he just becomes the fifth player in history to do so after Finlay Calder (1989 in Australia), Martin Johnson (1997 in South Africa) and Sam Warburton (2013 in Australia).
‘This means the world to me and I’m just delighted for everyone involved,’ said Itoje after second Test win over Australia in Melbourne last month gave them an unassaible 2-0 series lead.
‘It’s been a huge squad effort and we’ve been humming since we got here. This is what dreams are made of.
Itoje’s Saracens, England and Lions team-mates Elliot Daly (left) and Ben Earl attended the do
As did Marcus Smith (left) and Ollie Lawrence – with all donning traditional Nigeran attire
Itoje’s wife Mimi was in Australia to cheer him on captaining the Lions to a famous series win
‘When we met in London, Faz [head coach Andy Farrell] said he wanted us to win everything. I’m delighted with the result but we want to win in Sydney too.
‘Our indiscipline, our lack of composure, was often the contributing factor to their positive outcomes. We just kept focusing on the next passage of play, and once we got that far behind, we just had to claw our way back into it.
‘I always believed, but they were just playing so well. It just feels surreal. It’s a moment to cherish. Often in sport you have to quickly focus on the next challenge, but we have to savour this.’
He will hope to continue the winning feeling into the new season when he returns to Saracens and England after a well-earned break.
