Mark Fish’s son on his childhood trauma
As Mark Fish’s son Luke forges his own path he speaks about being physically and sexually abused during a childhood fuelled by drugs & wild parties
HE GREW up in the public eye, the eldest son of one of South Africa’s most celebrated footballers and a woman who personified glamour from the top of her glossy head to the tips of her Jimmy Choos. As a boy, Luke Fish was baby-faced and innocent-looking, all tousled hair and boyish grins. But the young man here today looks nothing like the former child model he once was. He has a ring in his nose, a cigarette in his hand, a beanie hiding his hair and tattoos all over his arms, hands and torso.
What’s more, he isn’t even going by the name Luke Fish anymore. He’s completely reinvented himself and wants to be called by his alter-ego, Seth Omen.
Now 23, he’s a rapper whose music revolves around his traumatic childhood and he wants nothing do with the family name anymore.
His upcoming song, Fish Pt 1, packs quite a punch. “Sad to say I came from trauma/Daddy used to beat my mama/ Magazines would doc the drama.”
And it’s all true, he says. He claims his father, Mark Fish – the former soccer star who helped Bafana Bafana clinch the African Cup of Nations in the heady days of 1996 and went on to play internationally – physically abused him.
“I grew up in a traumatic environment where I suffered a lot of physical abuse from my father,” Seth tells YOU.
He’d often get caught in the middle of the fights his dad had with his mom, Loui Fish, and “I fought him to protect my mom”, he says.
He fell into hard drugs and other self-destructive behaviour as a boy after being introduced to prescription drugs at wild parties hosted at his dad’s home.
What’s more, he alleges he was sexually assaulted by guests at these boozeand drug-fuelled get-togethers and his experiences affected his own sex life.
“When I was 14, I lost my virginity,” he says. “Even though I was so young, I wanted to lose my virginity.”
Neither parent has disputed Seth’s claims. Mark admits he had a wild lifestyle. “I think everyone knows my story,” he tells YOU.
He won’t be drawn on Seth’s allegations of physical abuse – all he’s prepared to say is, “I disciplined my kids when they needed to be disciplined.”
Loui says she fully supports her son breaking away and starting his music career.
“Everybody knows about our past,” she says. “I mean, you had to live under a rock not to know what the Fish family went through. This is my son’s career and these are his experiences.”
SETH may have been born into soccer celebrity but he says all that glitters isn’t gold.
To the outside world, the Fishes looked like they were living the high life but flying close to the sun can be dangerous. They may have had flashy cars, glitzy mansions and all the mod cons, but Seth says “we weren’t financially stable”.
Mark hung up his boots and retired from London-based football club Bolton Wanderers in 2005 and the family moved around so much while Mark tried his hand at different ventures that Seth went to about seven different schools.
He was often bullied by his classmates for being a spoilt rich kid. “All these people thought I had it all, but that wasn’t the case,” he says.
Then, in 2008, the family were targeted by a gang of robbers. Five armed men tied up Seth and Loui before making off with jewellery and handbags they loaded into the family’s car.
Because of all the trauma he experienced as a child, Seth used to act out a lot and regularly got into fights. By the time he was 12, he was already experimenting with drugs.
“It was at one of those parties where there were lots of people and someone offered me Xanax.”
This led to experimenting with harder drugs, but he managed to pull himself together and avoid going completely off the rails.
Until recently, Seth lived with his mom and his younger brother, Zeke (20), in Cape Town but he’s staying on his own now.
He’s always been close to Loui and confided in her about being sexually abused and although he’s sought counselling and was on antidepressant medication for a while, he prefers to pour his pain into song. “Music is my therapy.” His mother has been very supportive of his music career, he says, and he refers to the pain she suffered while married to Mark in his new song.
“Mommy crying doing dishes/Lukie be wishing for wishes/Never were granted though and that became my antidote.”
He doesn’t know what his father will make of his music. He doesn’t really have a relationship with Mark and can’t remember the last time they spoke.
“He sends messages every now and then,” Seth says, “but I don’t really reply.”
DESPITE their fractured relationship, Mark tells us he hopes his son will make his mark in the music business. “I wish Luke all the best,” says the former soccer ace, who has two younger children from his second marriage to Salomé Janse van Rensburg.
Mark and Salomé famously wed in a nightclub in 2015, four years after he split from Loui. The pair had been together for 11 tumultuous years before going their separate ways.
In 2012, a year after her drawn-out divorce, Loui published her autobiography, Walking in my Choos, in which she accuses Mark of being an abusive serial cheat.
These days Loui has little to do with her ex and doesn’t want to focus on any ill feelings.
Instead, she wants to shine a light on her son. “It’s about Luke/Seth breaking away and starting his career,” Loui tells us.
Yes, she and Mark were party animals “but it comes with the territory”, she says.
The single mom is getting back into modelling and will soon be part of a TV show but it’s all very hush-hush for now, she says.
She’s happy to talk about her blue-eyed boys, though. “We’re very close. I’ve been mom and dad to the boys since we got divorced,” she says.
Seth and Zeke share a keen interest in music and the boys talk often and bounce ideas off each other.
“Growing up everyone wanted to know if they’ll be footballers like Mark. They’re both brilliant footballers, but they just chose the entertainment side of things,” Loui says.
For Seth music is about more than entertainment. He’s spent the past few years focusing on his health and wellbeing and wants to raise awareness around mental health.
“Nowadays more and more people are experiencing depression. One in every four people have a mental health disorder,” he says. “If you listen to my music, it’s an outlet for feelings you wouldn’t really share with people – it’s the stuff you can’t get off your chest because you fear you’ll be judged.”
Seth, who’s also a part-time model, started focusing on his music career last year and plans to put out more music.
Fish Pt 1 is out on 30 June and available on all major streaming platforms and it’s only the beginning, he says.
“That’s why I called my single Fish Pt 1,” he says. “There’s still a lot more I have to say.”
ALL THESE PEOPLE THOUGHT I HAD IT ALL, BUT THAT WASN’T THE CASE’