Expresso presenter Katlego Maboe travels a lot. So when he jetted off to the Maldives in early August, no one thought more than the usual. But it was announced today that the vibrant personality is the new Tropika Island of Treasure host.
He follows in the footsteps of Minnie Dlamini, who hosted the show’s 7th season last year. Predictably, Maboe was chuffed to be hosting the SABC3 show, which will begin in February 2018.
“I’m super excited,” he said.
While contractually, he was obligated to keep this secret until all I’s were dotted and all T’s were crossed, he recently told his mom about his new gig.
“Even when I told my mom I was like: ‘mom! You can’t tell anybody.’ I had to keep her on silent mode. I just wanted her to share in the progress being made because sometimes it can feel like there’s long spans of time when it can feel barren, meanwhile things are just building up.”
The show sees celebrities team up with ordinary Joes in a series of challenges that will ultimately lead to a team of celebs and a regular person winning wads of cash. And they get to do all of this on a luxurious island getaway. Maboe recalls how he spent his time, er, working in the Maldives last month.
“We were there to scope the scene and shoot the actual ad and call to action to the public that there’s a chance for them to go to the Maldives. That was just one day though.
“For the rest of the four days we were there, there was just a lot of lounging around on the beach and just having the best times of our lives.”
A post shared by Katlego Maboe (@katlegomaboe) on Aug 6, 2017 at 12:10am PDT
Tough life. So if Maboe was stuck on a remote island and could only bring one person, one meal and one thing (anything) with him for the rest of his life, what would he choose?
“I’d probably take one of my best friends,” Maboe quickly answered. “Someone you can have good conversation and just laugh with while you’re there.
“I’d take one of my guy friends in case it’s one of those deserted islands where you have to go deep into the jungle to hunt for food or whatever.The one meal I’d choose is prawns. I find that with prawns, I can have many of them without getting tired of them. And you can cook them in a variety of ways.
“Then I’d bring some kind of tool with me,” he said.
“A panga, maybe. It would literally be about survival. How would I survive until I could be found and rescued?”
Luckily no pangas or prawns are needed just yet.
Instead Maboe has big plans for his career: “Ten years from now, I’ll still be enjoying what I do very much (but I’ll be) more in control of where I’m guiding my career.
A post shared by Katlego Maboe (@katlegomaboe) on Aug 9, 2017 at 9:18am PDT
“So, for instance, instead of working for a production company, I’ll be owning a production company where I can present some of the opportunities that I’ve had to other people.
“I’d also like to see myself as a family man in 10 years.”
“Lastly, I’ll hopefully have my own show. I’d love to have a show along the lines of Ellen DeGeneres’ show because no matter what mood I’m in, I always have a smile on my face when I watch that show.”
* The 8th season of Tropika Island of Treasure will air from February 2018 on SABC3.I