While this business of entertainment reporting usually attracts the egotistic types, every now and then you bump into the meek ones.
Millicent Mothiba ( pictured) is one of those. If you didn’t know any better, you would think she is shy which in turn would not work well with her career as an actress or TV host. After noting her talent in other productions like the popular soapie Muvhango, Dumisa TV called Mothiba with a proposal for a TV show.
“I had to audition for the show and because I am a Christian I found the idea of doing something for my beliefs very welcoming,” she said. The show is called I Believe and Mothiba has to invite well known celebrities with Christian beliefs to come in and speak about their spiritual lives.
“We are inviting people who have accepted God… and finding out how that decision made an impact in their lives,” she said.
“We have had the likes of Omega and Kholeka among others come in to share the story of their lives. Our pool of guests is not limited to any type of celebrity and will it be based on a specific trade, like musicians only, but we take in all known personalities. This helps us to inspire as many people out there who may be huge fans of the said celebrities,” explained Mothiba. Given that we know her mostly as Agnes Mukwevho on Muvhango, Mothiba admits that as a trained actor, it was not easy to adjust for TV presenting.
“The first thing they teach you at drama school is that you should never look at the camera when you are in character. Now the first rule for presenting is that you should look into the camera as you are addressing your viewers at home. I must say that was my biggest hurdle when I first started but I got used to it and now I am doing just fine,” she said.
While she is the presenter of I Believe, the production team have given Mothiba the power to look for and suggest guests she might think of as worthy for the show.
“They do most of the work when it comes to getting the guests, but through my affiliations with certain known people in the media, I am allowed to suggest anyone I think is good for the show,” she explained.
While this is a “tell-all” show, Mothiba said there are times, though very few, when her guests may not be happy with what they have “confessed” and if that happens there are ways to save the day. “My primary concern is the guest and so I need them to be happy with the show before it flights. If they are not happy with anything then we can go back through the reel and edit out the parts that they are not comfortable with,” she explained.
• I Believe airs on Dumisa TV (DStv channel 340) at 4pm every Thursday.