Television actress -cum- producer Sonia Mbele is a living testimony of the expression “you can’t keep a good man down”.
“When something is yours, it is yours,” Mbele said, after one of her shows, Real Housewives of Johannesburg recently made a comeback on the small screen after being canned. The popular show was canned under mysterious circumstances in 2021.
According to Mbele, a client – whose name she will not disclose for professional reasons – decided to axe the show because cast members got into an ugly physical fight. The contract governing the show is clear: it allows no violence or cat fights, or negativity of any kind, to mar the show. “The said parties opened counter-cases on each other,” Mbele revealed.
But the show made a stellar comeback in May 2023, introducing some of the most loved women and socialites in the entertainment industry. The show is about lavish lifestyles and friendships, and how the protagonists, in their conversations, navigate their various ways towards their success.
Mbele believes the show resonates well with South African viewers – gossip and all – and relates to how they imagine their world. “Most of the wives are dreamers leaning towards being aspirational. They like the finer things in life, and that’s a great thing for the entertainment industry. So, we decided to give the people what they want.”
She says the format is successful because what happens during conversations and exchanges of thoughts should literally open the window to viewers on how others live their life – a depiction of real, and not, fake lives.
“I always had a fascination with reality show. I guess I have always identified reality when others have generally been sceptical.
“There is this misconception that well-to-do people are posh, snobbish or well-behaved. However, they are human like you and me. They just happen to live in glass houses. Luckily for me, I happen to know most of these wealthy, yet dramatic, women.” Mbele says the requirements for participants in the show are more than just expensive shoes and bags.
“We do not want crass materialism, because issues must be relatable. The most important thing is that the viewers ought to resonate with the women. The shoes and the bags are standard to the lifestyle, we all know that. However, the key thing is the story behind these women’s lives. What are the viewers taking away?”
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