‘We have let you down’ - Khanyi Mbau on season two of The Wife

She plays the role of Zandile (The Resolute) on The Wife.

She's Nkosana’s wife - played by Mondli Makhoba - who was jailed and escapes from prison to be with her family.

When the Unmarried and Happiness Ever After star joined the cast of The Wife, she asked viewers to be open to her playing the part.

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In a previous interview with Drum, Khanyi knew that it wouldn't be easy portraying Zandile and that she was scared at first when she joined the cast of The Wife.

"It was a very daunting experience for me to get the opportunity to play Zandile, especially to come into a family that is already established and but shout out to the directors the cast, and the crew for making it such an easy transition for me. It is like getting into a new school and the class does not know each other and I need to catch up to their frequency, it was not easy but you guys made it very easy.”

She revealed during the question-and-answer session of the launch that playing Zandile was frustrating because naturally, Khanyi is a Mandisa in real life.

“I am very bright and out there, while Zandile is just? Nobody understands what Zandile is. We do not know if she is cold, who she loves. We do not know what her story and mission is. So, she just frustrates me, and I always suppress Khanyi and everything, especially when I shoot with Zikhona, I have to do it even more because she is me which makes it easier for Khanyi to want to jump out. So, when I shoot with a Mandisa character, I need to always suppress myself because when we run lines, I get to be me with her but onset I need to always sit on me to deliver Zandile the Resolute and the spirit of her,” she told Drum.

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Drawing closer to the end of season two, Khanyi says she believes, the cast and storyline is not the same as the novel and they have not delivered to the best of their ability.

“Great concerns flying around regarding season two of The Wife. I think let’s address this issue cause I see it too,” she wrote in a long Twitter thread. 

“We have let you down, we have not given you what you had anticipated, a love story between Zandile and Nkosana. That’s what we all hoped to experience.”

She says season two did not show the love between Zandile and Nkosana.

“Season two didn’t give us enough love, and companionship from Zandile and Nkosana and that’s why you are all so disappointed, I am too.”

Khanyi says The Wife has become more of a crime drama than a romantic story like the book portrays.

“The Wife has become more of a crime drama series on a lot of prison scenes, people going missing; hate and mystery instead of a warm, sexy story about a man a woman who should be in love,” she says.

“The book version shares so much intimacy, seduction, and love, a story about patience and triumph, and that is why we feel let down. To be honest, I had hoped for an African version of 50 shades of grey with live, that’s how I imagined them.”

She stressed that the concerns of the viewers did not land on deaf ears.

“Your cries are heard, and I understand. So, I feel you all! Imagine how I feel playing Zandile after all my research on her. You are not alone. I too want to experience this deep love story,” she says.

“Nonetheless thank you for sticking it out with us and staying loyal to the show and the platform. Your views mean so much to me as an actress and performer, but you are not going crazy, I feel you.”