Johannesburg - Celebrity and socialite Anele Mdoda dreamt of being a talk show host like Oprah Winfrey since the age of 11. Now 32, it seems she waited many years for her dream to come true.
“I have wanted a show for so long. We struggled and went to meeting after meeting.
“It was not like I called someone at the SABC and I got the gig. If I could call up people and get favours, I don’t think it would be as fun,” said the 94.7 radio presenter.
Mdoda might be a big name in the industry and host of the biggest drive-time show on radio, but says she has been pitching for the talk show since the age of 25.
“I remember three years ago I was called in for the pitch after I had just landed at the airport. I had to go to the SABC with my luggage (and) pitching to like 16 people in the boardroom.
“I have never been anyone’s first choice and I am fine with it. What’s nice is if they do pick me it ends up feeling like I was their first choice. So I never complain that I got overlooked,” Mdoda added.
She’s now living her dreams and has no qualms about sounding or resembling her idol Oprah.
“People try not to be like her when they really like her. You can compare me to her all you want. If it remotely looks like I am being her I am okay with that. Because at the end of the day, the DNA is Anele,” she said.
“Look at somebody like Beyoncé. She is like Tina Turner. How do you live in an era of Oprah Winfrey and not take from her? How do you live in an era of Michael Jackson and not take from him?
“You are an idiot to have such people at your disposal and not learn and pick from them.
“There is nothing wrong with that. What’s wrong with trying to be like excellence? What’s wrong with trying to be like somebody who is good?”
Her ultimate dream job journey has had some high-profile pit stops, such as presenting TV shows like SA’s Got Talent and Top Billing.
“You sometimes step out of your dream and it seems so far away and you settle for something else. I started by wanting to be a lawyer. Then I moved to radio. I remember doing research on Oprah at varsity and learnt that she started on radio. Then I got into radio and fell in love with it so much that I felt perhaps I would be the Oprah of radio,” she said.
An interview on former talk show host Carol Bouwer’s Motswako reignited her dream to host her own show.
“I have been to Cape Town three or four times to meet Carol to discuss the talk show but it just never took off. She reignited that fire. I have since spoken to eight production companies. From the age of 25 until now at 32.
“My dad has always taught my sisters and me that the thrill is in the chase and not in the deal.
“The thrill for me is in the research about the people I interview. I want to sit the people down and bring them closer to me until we are friends and they tell me everything I want.”
Her daily show is a consistent Top Five trender on Twitter.
“I did not realise the magnitude of it. It was only when I was at the airport in Cape Town and there was a commotion of a group of about 40 women who were going on holiday and they were all losing their minds, telling me that they watch the show.
“What I want is for everyone to have conversations about the show.”
She’s recently been to New York where she interviewed Trevor Noah, Pearl Thusi and US actor Blair Underwood.
As a new mom of a 15-month- old, her schedule starts at 3am and she reads more than five books a month to stay on top of her game.
“The one narrative that most employers have about people who have babies is that they are going to start slowing down.
“But for me it’s the other way around.
“I work a lot harder because I am a mother. The only way he can get everything he wants is if he watches me getting everything I want.”
Her strong, supportive structure also includes a healthy co-parenting set-up with the father of her child, even though they are no longer together.
“We are the best co-parents. We even hang out.
“We are very good friends. What I am building and concerned about is the strength of the relationship between him and his son. I know which losses to take and I am fine with it but I also know which battles I can’t afford to lose and that’s my son’s relationship with his father.”
Sunday Independent