A couple who were featured on The Real Housewives of Pretoria have confessed to shoplifting thousands of dollars’ worth of groceries from Publix in a months-long crime spree.
Melany and Petrus Viljoen, known on the international installment of the iconic reality franchise as Mel and Peet, were arrested Tuesday in Boca Raton, Florida and booked on felony charges of aggravated grand retail theft over $3,000.
The South African reality TV personalities are accused of stealing more than $5,300 worth of Publix groceries from August 2025 through March 2026, according to Boca Raton police. They were taken into custody during a traffic stop while driving a black Range Rover, according to Miami’s Channel 10.
Melany, 39, who appeared on The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: South Africa for its only season in 2024, told police officers that “she was stealing because she was in survival mode and has not worked since coming to the U.S. due to not having a Visa,” the arrest report viewed by Channel 10 stated.
“Over the course of the last six months, the Viljoens have worked in concert during multiple acts of retail thefts,” a Boca Raton police officer alleged in the report. Police said that there were at least two other alleged thefts at other Publix stores that were not reported due to their insignificant value.
Police said surveillance video and store records showed the pair using a “ticket switching” method to use cheaper barcodes to buy more expensive items. They allegedly stole 392 items, including La Marca Prosecco, San Pellegrino sparkling water, Maison Perrier sparkling water, Coca-Cola Zero, fruit, toilet paper and other groceries, investigators reported.
The couple admitted to police that they were the people seen in the store’s CCTV footage, per the police report. Although Melany told police that she acted alone without the help of her husband, who previously worked as an attorney and businessman in Pretoria, investigators alleged that Petrus distracted store employees while his wife committed the thefts.
The Viljoens are booked at the Main Detention Center in West Palm Beach with a bond of $10,000 each, according to inmate records. The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office directed The Independent to contact federal marshals for information about their arrest as they were booked on a felony charge. The marshals did not immediately return The Independent’s request for comment.
Melany and Petrus, 57, were featured on the first and only season of RHOPTA, which premiered in 2022. The show was the first Afrikaans-language series of the franchise.
