She may be new, but she is not waiting one more minute to show people who she is.
Angel Ndlela is one of the latest additions to season four of the much-loved Real Housewives of Durban.
Viewers may only be two episodes into the season, but some are already saying Angel is rubbing them up the wrong way because she seems like she is always ready to “start something”.
Drum chats to Angel, who because she is under 30, considers herself the “baby of the group”.
“I am the youngest in the group and I am proud of it,” she says.
Shooting the show took a couple of weeks and Angel says having cameras following you around all the time took some getting used to.
“It was something that was completely out of the ordinary. It was fun and time consuming, but that’s the nature of show business.
“I had an amazing time working with the ladies because they are all individually amazing. They are great moms and great in their respective businesses. Regardless of what friendships form as the show progress, I think they are all amazing.”
In the first episode Angel calls herself the baby of the group. But she was offended when Zama, one of the other new ladies, called her kid. She then apologised to Zama, saying that it was not her finest moments.
Read more | Meet the new cast members joining the Real Housewives of Durban
“I take accountability. I should not have spoken to Zama that way. We shoot for six to eight hours at a time and what viewers get to see in the final product is not everything that was shot. But that is no excuse for how I handled that situation. I think it is to be expected that in that kind of environment, you may have stupid and dumb moments. But it is important to own your mistakes.”
She also addresses the drama that unfolded at the luncheon the ladies had with their husbands.
“I stand by what I said. I do not think I was stirring the pot. In my real life I am always around people who when you see that ikhona into e off, you raise it and that it is what I did. There was shade in that comment about gays from the past and present gays. That’s a fact.
“But the truth is that with so many millions of people who watch the show, it is impossible to explain yourself to all of them and to make them like you. That is fine with me.
“I am not a mean girl. I have got a mouth on me, and I will speak my mind, but I am not mean. I am a straightforward kind of person.”
Angel says she has been a fan of the Real Housewives franchise since 2006 and she has watched all the local ones too. She says there is no reason for anyone to compare her to Sane from season three of Real Housewives of Durban because she was malicious.
“The things Sane was saying about Annie were not true. She tried to tarnish Annie’s name and marriage. I am not like that. I do not speak about anyone’s work, families or anything like that.”
Viewers see Angel speaking to her boyfriend and them planning their future together, but she is mum on what can be expected on the rest of the season in that regard.
“All I can say about that is that we plan, but it is God that decides. Also, there are people who are saying we have been together for 13 years and that is not true. We have just known each other for that long, only together for a year.”
Read more | If opportunity comes to do Real Housewives of Durban season 4, I’ll do it, says newcomer Slee Ndlovu
She grew up in Howick, a small town a little over 80km outside of Durban, and she says she even though she is the daughter of a taxi boss, she had a sheltered upbringing.
“I lacked nothing growing up and even though my dad is in the taxi business, I was not exposed to anything like violence which is what people associate with the industry. I suppose the industry as a whole has similarities, but the associations are different depending on where you are located. My dad has never been in life and death situations because of his work because of where we are based.”
She is adamant that she avoids social media until the buzz around the show has ended.
“I have a psychology background and so I understand human behaviour. But the truth is that it is not nice for anyone to see people write ugly things about them. What I have found is that as mean as people can be on X, in real life, people are really sweet and kind. I will go back to that social media platform when the excitement about the show has died down.”
With the gift of hindsight, Angel says knowing what she knows now, she would still do the show again and attend the reunion. If there is a season five, she would like to be part of it too.
“Angilona igwala mina (I am not a coward). I own up to my mistakes and I say things with my chest. I am always willing to acknowledge when I am wrong and change that behaviour. But I am not one to back down unnecessarily. The clients I work with neither watch nor care about Real Housewives, I just continue to do my work with excellence as usual.”
