Thomas Gumede listens to pleas from the heartbroken and offers a space for them to mend their relationships.
As a young man no one really told me about love. It was all trial and error (lots of errors) thanks to the fact that I had no big brother to be my guide. One of the things I didn’t quite get right was to know when to let go in relationships. And if you watch Love Back, the new Mzansi Magic show, where ordinary people get the channel to assist them to rekindle a lost love, some people believe in making up after a break-up.
With Thomas Gumede (pictured) as the show’s host, we meet several South Africans with broken hearts as they attempt to reunite with their exes.
“The funny story is that someone I was involved with before asked me if we could try again, but I wasn’t in that space. Instead, what I saw was a TV show idea which could work,” said Gumede who is an executive producer at Parental Advisory Productions (Mo Love, Goal Diggerz).
He took the idea to his two partners, Lungile Radu and Siya Ngwekazi, who both thought it was a great concept.
“We approached Mzansi Magic about a year ago and they also liked the idea, but these things take time. We are happy that we are here and so far so good,” he said.
The first episode has aired already and looks promising. We met a guy with low-esteem who was trying to reunite with his clued-up girlfriend. As a viewer you almost understand why their relationship did not work as they are too different.
Gumede inter-views him about why they broke up and you can tell why. Basically he is a clean church boy who has the Ten Commandments etched in his heart, while she is a party girl. So when he is in church she is probably out with friends. When he approached Gumede and co, the heartbroken man tried to come up with what he thought was a romantic comeback, but the girl had moved on and turned him down. Live on TV.
“We are not always promising positive results. We are only promising an arena for communication, but the outcome is entirely up to the parties concerned. We feel that since this is reality TV, there is a need to show the truth and not try to sugarcoat things,” said Gumede.
If you are going to take this episode alone as a reflection of what the rest of season is going to be like, it looks set to make for entertaining viewing. The concern, however, is if people are willing to be shamed on the show.
“Look, we have shot the entire first season and we are happy with the outcome.
“Some people get their loves back and others don’t, that’s life,” Gumede pointed out.
“If we get a second season I think people will still come through because what’s better than declaring your love to the rest of the world? I think if people have learnt from their previous mistakes in any given relationship, then they should give it a try again.”
• Love Back airs Sundays on Mzansi Magic (DStv channel 161) at 5.30pm.