It’s a dream come true. But it all still feels so surreal after actually pulling it off this past weekend.
As a child, Zanele Potelwa tells Drum she often imagined herself being on TV, interviewing the who’s and who of SA showbiz as they walked the red carpets of glitzy awards show.
Dreams turned into reality this past weekend when the rising star did the SAMAs red-carpet interviews.
But, still, the media personality is a big dreamer so this is just the start for her.
“I'm already excited for next year, where I hope and pray to be a main host,” she tells Drum.
Reflecting on her experience of the SAMAs, Zanele says she must've rehearsed her big day hundreds of times in her mind's eye.
This was an opportunity that would make an even bigger audience sit up and notice her, so she revisited previous videos of the awards on YouTube and did all she could to be prepared for success.
“It genuinely takes days and weeks to prepare for a moment like this one. I say that because of the amount of time that goes into finding the right dress, the right hairstyle, the right colour nails, shoes, making arrangements for your makeup to be done, hair to be retouched.
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“And then of course, the learning about the nominees, their categories and the news around them – it's crazy, but oh so worth it.
"On the actual day, I literally made my way to my makeup artist's room, revised the nominees and their categories, practised a few links on the mirror and re-watched a few red carpet SABC 1 and SAMAs YouTube videos before slipping into my dress and making way to the carpet with my boss,” she shares.
“It was challenging,” she admits, but she had the best time of her life.
“It was so surreal. I felt like I was exactly where I needed to be, doing exactly what I needed to be doing.
"Each interview and link almost felt as easy as breathing. It was a feeling I won't soon forget.
"Now I will continue to work as hard as I can to always be in such spaces, having fun with our favourites on the most epic platforms.”
She is grateful to Selimathunzi for holding her hand through it all.
“The mere fact that they trusted me was one of the greatest things that gave me the confidence to get on that carpet and put on a show!
"My stylist, Sanele Thabethe, with her fashion house, House of Sass, made sure I felt insanely beautiful and confident in the bold dresses she put me in for both nights,” Zanele adds.
Her friends and family also flooded her phone with well wishes, which encouraged her.
“People underestimate what the support of friends and family truly can do for you on such a special night.
"I was flooded with messages from loved ones telling me that they knew I would kill it and had prayed for me and that they couldn't wait to watch. My knowing that they were in my corner meant everything.”
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When sharing some of her favourite red carpet looks, she says she admires how Lady X embraced her IsiXhosa heritage with her outfits – "her beaded dress stole my heart".
“I also absolutely loved how the gorgeous Loot Love rocked up in a bright orange showstopper
“My best dressed guys were definitely Zweli Mbhele and one of our favourites TikTokers Stunningmaze – they genuinely killed it! And I could never forget how gorgeous my colleagues, Stephanie B and Leah Jazz, Looked in their whimsical numbers.”
A diligent hard-worker, Zanele shares that if she’s not on TV or radio presenting, she does voice-over work.
“I will be investing more and more time into acting as well," she adds.
"I also do charity work as much as I possibly can and I fully intend on adding 'philanthropist' to my profile someday soon, because that part of me and the drives I have every now and again are some of the most important things to me.”
