When Nonhle Ndala took over from Kabelo Mabalane as the trainer on Bootcamp, very few people knew her and as such little faith was bestowed on her. She may look the part, but with no previous TV hosting experience, it was going to be a tough job.
But TV presenting only comes second to being a professional at a given career. If you look at the various retired football players who do commentary on SuperSport, you will find that most of them do not even speak proper English. Yet, they make their point because they speak from a place of authority. This is how Ndala qualified to be the next host of Mzansi Magic’s Bootcamp.
“To be honest, I had never watched Kabelo’s show so I had no idea what was expected of me. But since I am passionate about transforming lives I knew that all I had to do was give it my all and not try to emulate what was there before. I had to go with what I know and I am glad we have come this far,” said the Ndala.
For someone who didn’t even have the inclination to end up on TV, Ndala is doing quite well. She said the hosting job came to her in a most unusual way.
“It actually came to me as a surprise. Apparently, one of the producers went through my profile on Instagram and liked my fitness pictures and videos. They had a celebrity in mind to host the show, but were not sure the candidate would get it right. So they sent me a message on Facebook and I saw it, thought it was unprofessional and ignored it. They got my numbers and called me on a Tuesday, we met the next day and on Friday I was working. It was that quick,” she said.
The first episode of the show saw the viewer being introduced to Ndala and about a dozen obese contestants. Her militant persona on the show made for some interesting impromptu exercises for the large people.
“Honestly, I have never seen so many big people like that in one place. It was a real shock to me and I quickly realised how much work we had to do. So I was responsible for the training, their diet and their resting which all equally help in their development,” she said.
While she is a newbie at the TV thing, she handled whatever criticism came her way like a pro: “I expected criticism as it was my first time on TV. I mentally prepared myself for that and I was not going to let it get to me. What I know I am good at is life transformation and when people achieve their objective, then my job is done.”
• Bootcamp, Sunday, 6pm, Mzansi Magic, (DStv channel 161).