Nothing beats a therapeutic drive to your favourite place. What better way to open up and tell your story than this?
Season six of BET’s Behind the Story returns and we’ll be seeing more of these from our favourite and not so favourite public figures.
For the second time around, the season will be hosted by Nomalanga Shozi.
“I feel grateful that we got to do another season. Every entertainer is always grateful for work but when it’s meaningful work and that it’s work that enriches them and stretches them as well, it’s a bonus,” she tells Drum.
Before season five, the show was previously hosted by Pearl Thusi and Sizwe Dlomo who brought their creative flair to the front.
For her this time around, “What I’m excited about showcasing differently is myself and my capabilities as a presenter so in terms of difference, people will be able to see the growth in me as an anchor. The people who are in this season, I really enjoyed speaking to because of where I’m at currently in my career - paying homage to someone who has been in this industry for as long as a Dineo [Ranaka] has been or a Tumisho Masha has been or a Theo Kgosinkwe has been, is big. Having them on Behind the Story for me has been an honour.”
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Mome Mahlangu, whose divorce from Tall Ass Mo has dominated headlines recently, will reportedly also be telling her story on the show.
However, the first will be Dineo Ranaka whose career in the entertainment business spans over 20 years with her moves from Metro FM to Kaya FM, into the podcast space and recently back to TV having raised eyebrows.
With the season premiering on Friday, 10 November, the 29-year-old Nomalanga will be hosting two shows including SABC 1’s The Sauce, gracefully marking her official return to the big screens.
As she approaches the big 30, the mother of one says that in as much as she is excited about entering the third level of life, she also takes it one day at a time.
“Days are not guaranteed. I don’t know that I’m going to be alive tomorrow. I look forward to 30 as much as I looked forward to turning 16, 21, 25 because I’m excited to learn myself as I go. I think the reason why I’m so comfortable with that is that I’m in an industry where women have grown in the industry from their teens and early twenties, into their 30s.”
From her industry mates who have already entered the third level of life, she has learned that trailblazing doesn’t stop if you don’t let it. In fact, it’s nothing to be afraid of as those people had the most fun in their lives as they grew older.
“I look forward to growing in that confidence. I look forward to just embracing Nomalanga Shozi and hopefully getting to a point where I’m comfortable enough to tell my story one day in a way that is authentic and true to me. For now, I’m focusing on work but it’s going to come to a point where I’m going to be on Behind the Story one day, God willing. I feel like I’m writing my story right now. It’s not to say that my 20s weren’t amazing, they were but my 30s are going to be even more amazing.”
Even as she has more of her work in the pipelines currently, she tells Drum that she wouldn’t consider herself to be in her winning or prime season because for her, her win is just being alive.
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In the ten years that she has been in the entertainment industry though, the KZN born presenter has stumbled upon hiccups but her biggest, like many, has been finances.
“The biggest challenges that I’ve faces is money[-related]. Our rand is low. You travel abroad and you realise that people who work in retail in Monaco or in Italy make more money than an actress who went to school and studied for this and is on our screens in South Africa. Unless you come from money, you will struggle with money.”
“Learning how to manage money [is a big lesson that I learned] and also managing relationships with people and brands. Being young and growing into this industry and realising that you can charge R50 000 for two hours of work because of all the time that I’ve put into my craft. The next thing, you fumble those bags and you’re back to square one. Just learning how to be more than one thing as an artist has been quite a challenge but a rewarding challenge because I’ve grown as a businessperson, as an actress, as a presenter, MC, host and a personality, there’s more to me now because of all the experience I’ve had.”
Over the past decade, what has been weirdly fun though for her has been recognising that she’s not as good as she thinks and so she has to go back to her drawing board and be better at her crafts.
