Reality show contestants find that sometimes the biggest prize in life is love, writes Munya Vomo
For a month after Mandla Hlatswayo emerged as the winner of the Big Brother Mzansi reality show last year, the man was so popular he had to employ a bodyguard. He and his Big Brother lover, Lexi van Niekerk, were the talk of the town when they fell for each other and expressed their love in all ways possible. This inadvertently made them popular overnight and Hlatswayo eventually walked away with a healthy increase his bank account.
It is a year later and not only are the pair still together, but they are coming to your screens with the reality series, Mandla & Lexi.
“Without giving away too much, I’d say it is going to include our living arrangements, how we travel, whether I pick her up or vice versa. We also look at our different hustles as a unit and our lives as a couple. We will show the common challenges that couples go through, including fights. But we will also show how good we can be together,” said Hlatswayo.
Before the show Hlatswayo was a spaza shop owner, but thanks to Big Brother Mzansi, he can fulfil other areas of his life including selling property and making music. Van Niekerk was as a call centre agent, but is now going for acting classes and dreams of conquering the world with her talent. Based on these aspirations, Mandla & Lexi will look at how the couple function with and without each other.
“The whole set up of the show is to illustrate how compatible we are as a couple. We are doing five episodes, but we have a lot of material in them. The producers of the show want to test run it a bit and then we’ll see where it goes. A lot of people are thinking it is just another couple in a reality show, but watching all the other ones out there, there is a lot of difference on our part. That said, we’re not really going to bring back the sex like people saw on Big Brother, this is another show,” said Van Niekerk.
Any reality series comes with its price and for this pair, the inclusion of their own families will make for some good TV.
“There will be other important things like how my family feel about Mandla and how his feels about me. My family were not exposed to the media, but with this show they have become part of it. I think people will love it because there is huge anticipation from the fans and we will give them the true us, just as we did in Big Brother. We are grateful that Big Brother opened the doors for us. The fans asked for the show and we answered. We are also grateful for the fact that PAP Productions were smart enough to see the need to produce the show because there is a ready market,” explained Van Niekerk.
Prior to joining Big Brother, the two had different reasons for signing up and are happy that they left with the high profiles they did and the love they found during the competition.
“I love music, but because my spaza took so much of my time, I could never get enough time to record. I worked so hard at the business, so much that going into the house was a vacation for me. I just wanted to see how my family would cope without me. So I was excited to get the golden ticket and then just go away for a bit. I enjoyed eating all those things I had never had before – meeting Lexi and winning the money was a bonus. Now that we are here, I am just happy that more and more good things are coming out of this. I think I am in a good place to move my music career thanks to being on Big Brother Mzansi,” said Hlatswayo.
His girlfriend also entered, without much hope of winning, but to experience what it would be like to be on national TV.
“What’s funny is that a friend of mine called me and asked that we audition together. We went and I got in and she didn’t. It was an amazing experience and I never dreamed that coming out I would have so many fans. You get people trying to copy my fashion style and the hairdos I have. I may have not won the competition, but I won the guy who won it,” Van Niekerk said, giggling.
With fame comes challenges, and “Manlex”, as the couple are affectionately known, testify that they, too, sometimes have to deal with the pros and cons.
“We can’t go to malls the way we used to a while ago. People are always in our space, trying to take a picture. What I have also noticed is that the people have high expectations of us and sometimes it is unfair. I get people who comment negatively on my pictures if I am wearing the same thing twice. They forget that I am not Kim Kardashian, I am just a simple girl who was on a big TV show,” said Van Niekerk.
• Mandla & Lexi premieres on Mzansi Magic tomorrow at 7pm.
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
The amazing thing about Big Brother as a show is that it proves that being in the public eye through the media can elevate a person’s social status. Some contestants have made something out of their short stint of fame, while others have simply vanished. Here are a few who have made the most of their time in the spotlight.
UTI
After winning Big Brother Africa, in what was a controversial result, Uti Nwachukwu has gone on to be a TV presenter for Jaro, a popular entertainment show in Nigeria. He has also tried acting and starred in a few movies shown across the continent.
MUNYA
After losing to Nnwachukwu, Munya Chidzonga went home to Zimbabwe to start
a production company. He has since shot several movies between his native home and South Africa. He has also starred in e.tv dramas that featured Khanyi Mbau.
VIMBAI
Perhaps the most famous Big Brother Africa contestant, Vimbai Mutinhiri did
not go far in the reality competition, but she landed the presenter job on Africa Magic. Her show, Star Gist, has seen her gain continental fame – so much so that she has been the co-host of the Africa MagicViewers’ Choice Awards twice in a row.
LERATO
While she was a bad girl during her stint on Big Brother Africa, Lerato Sengadi has gone on to be a thriving publicist with the likes of HHP on her books. Sengadi seems to always be in the entertainment spotlight and features in several music videos.