Cristiano Ronaldo might be a YouTube megastar in 2024, but it wasn’t long ago that he couldn’t stand people delving into his personal life.

The Portugal captain now regularly sits down with his partner for social media videos and has invited cameras into his home in Saudi Arabia as his career winds down.

Ronaldo wasn’t so happy with the media back in 2016

But, in 2016, when he was at the top of his game, any mention of what was going on off the pitch could send him into a tailspin.

Something one reporter found out in bizarre circumstances.

Portugal began Euro 2016 with draws against Iceland and Austria and were on the brink of a disastrous group stage exit in France despite their golden generation and golden player being at the top of their game.

Ahead of a crunch final group clash against Hungary, the country’s journalists were afforded a walk around hotel premises with the players in Lyon, but Ronaldo created some unhelpful headlines.

The then-Real Madrid star was approached by a reporter from 24-hour news network CMTV who simply asked: “Are you ready for this game?”

Without skipping a beat, he grabbed the reporter’s microphone and threw it into a lake next to where they were walking.

The scenes, which were caught on camera, seemed absolutely baffling, particularly given the innocuous nature of the question asked.

However, it soon appeared that Ronaldo’s issue was with CMTV, not the reporter Diogo Torres. 

The network regularly covered his personal and family life, and Torres indicated that was the issue when speaking after the event.

“I’m not sure why he did it. I think it was a momentary thing,” he said. “I think he would not have done it if he had thought about it.

Ronaldo snatched the mic and sent it to the water

It was later recovered and auctioned off for charity

“We are a TV channel of a major newspaper in Portugal. We produce a lot of news about him. Some of it he doesn’t like. Perhaps that’s why he did it. But it wasn’t a personal thing.

“I’ve not had an apology from Ronaldo or the team. We travelled to France on the same plane with the players and will fly back with them.”

Making the most of the situation, CMTV paid two divers to recover the microphone from the lake, and then made headlines by auctioning it off, with the funds going to a charity in Ronaldo’s home island of Madeira.

The events eventually proved to be little distraction for Ronaldo, who would lead Portugal to their first major honour by winning the final against hosts France in Paris.

There was also a further twist in June 2023, when Ronaldo became a major shareholder of the media group that owns CMTV.

We doubt he’ll be throwing any more – who wants to deal with those expenses, even if you’re mega-rich like Ronaldo!