Like her or not, it’s clear that Nunurai Mudarikwa stole the show in The Mommy Club’s season finale.
The events planner and mother of one garnered quite the reputation as the dark horse of the season.
Many viewers took to social media to voice their opinions on how much of the castmates’ life updates found their way to the forefront of the group due to Nunurai’s storytelling. It isn’t too far off to say that she created quite the stir.
From expressing her views on Happy ‘Her Majesty’ Simelane’s speedy engagement to questioning the paternity of Omuhle Gela’s child, Nunurai isn’t afraid to tell it like it is.
READ MORE | Secrets, shade and sophistication – 4 top moments from The Mommy Club
With the season wrapped on a shaky note, she gives TRUELOVE the inside scoop on her overall experience on the show.
“I think now that the season has ended, I don’t even know how to really put into words how I’m feeling because when you’re shooting and you’re going through different scenes, you don’t really know what’s being said about you behind the scenes or you don’t know what the other person is saying.
“So, I think ending the show now it has kind of given me perspective about where everybody stands and how everybody feels about me.”
Catty clap-backs and tit-for-tat jabs became the theme for the season, with the most notable heated exchange between Nunurai and Omuhle leaving them both uttering unsavoury comments to each other.
Addressing Omuhle’s xenophobic remark against her country’s capital city Bulawayo, Nunurai explains, “When it comes to those comments, right, I just feel like xenophobia is quite a big issue and ... I had experienced some past xenophobia before but I think with being on this show and being on this platform, for some reason, I’ve experienced the worst xenophobia ever. Like, the last two months that the show was airing is the most xenophobia that I’ve experienced compared to the nine years that I’ve been in SA.
“I’ve actually really been thinking deeply about it. Is it that if that incident did not happen on the show, would people still be as xenophobic just because I’m Zimbabwean or does this tell you that we had a xenophobic incident on the show that’s why all the people that also believe in the same thing are now coming for me. So, it’s quite a complex topic and a very complex matter.”
In a report from News24, Omuhle stated, “I want to emphasise that this isolated incident does not define who I am as a person. I want to make it clear that I do not support xenophobia and I acknowledge that my comment was thoughtless and reckless. I have sincerely apologised to Nunurai.”
Many believe that Nunurai’s sensitive question to Omuhle started the debacle.
The 29-year-old business owner believes that if one opens themselves up to the opportunity of being on a reality show, they should expect trending topics of conversation to be addressed.
“If I was in a position that some guy posted saying ‘it’s not my child’ and there are publications – because these are media houses saying this thing – and you go on a reality TV show, would you expect people not to ask you about that?
“Because I feel like I don’t know what I would’ve done differently … because I thought if we had not asked also, the people would be like ‘you’re playing this game’.”
Majority of the show did not show much of Nunurai’s personal life and outside ventures but that took a turn in the second to last episode of the season at her pink-and-white-themed event showcasing to the ladies her event planning and design companies NuLu Events and NuLu Flowers, established towards the end of 2020 at just 26 years old.
The #MommyClubShowmax cast member Nunurai says she loves playtime with her little one. pic.twitter.com/16wRizxMEm
— TRUELOVE Magazine (@TrueLoveMag) June 25, 2023
With shade thrown, tempers flared and voices raised not much focus was placed on her businesses and background in computer and information sciences. She’s here to change that.
“When I was studying initially I wanted to do food science and some other course like that, but unfortunately they didn’t offer that at my university of choice… So, I did computer science and I graduated with honours,” Nunurai tells us.
“Then after graduation, I was working for my dad part-time [and] opened my first business. The after my first business [Covid-19] happened. Then after Covid, that’s when I started just experimenting with flowers and we’d throw parties for ourselves … my then-boyfriend – now husband – he threw a nice engagement party and he used Precious [The Planner] and it was so nice, it was so exquisite. So, I was like, ‘oh my word, this is nice ... I want to be part of this process’.”
Out of the five other castmates – which include Mpumi ‘Mrs Mops’ Mophatlane, Her Majesty, Omuhle, Tshego Manche and Ratile Mabitsela – Nunurai claims to be closest with Tshego, as they spend a lot of time together and always talk.
READ MORE | Mrs Mops on lessons learnt in motherhood – ‘I want them to always have an attitude of gratitude’
No word has come out yet regarding a reunion special or second season but Nunurai says she would be happy to rejoin the cast should the opportunity present itself.
“I would definitely return. Ya, I really loved the process of shooting. It was such a fun show, the production was amazing, so I’d definitely return.”
The world is her oyster and Nunurai plans to expand her business and her knowledge.
“In terms of my company, I’m hoping to open a physical location some time soon … because now we are strictly online but I feel like a physical location would just bring that thing of interacting with clients.
“Then the other thing that I want to achieve is, I feel like I still need to get my master’s because I have my Honours but I feel like even though I’m not in the field, but I still want my masters [degree]. So, I’m looking into getting a Masters in computer science maybe or maybe getting an MBA (Master of Business Administration) but I’ll just see how that goes,” she concludes.
