Reeva Steenkamp was shot dead just two days prior, early on Thursday morning, in the home of the Olympic and paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius, who is facing a charge of premeditated murder.
On Saturday night both the NBC Nightly News (seen in South Africa on CNBC Africa) and CBS Evening News (seen in South Africa on Sky News) featured Tropika Island of Treasure 5 and Reeva Steenkamp prominently in the serious news bulletins.
Both serious news bulletins covered how South Africans are watching Tropika Island of Treasure 5 after the producers decided to go ahead with showing the advertiser-funded production (AFP) featuring the dead model.
NBC Nightly News and the CBS Evening News called it "eery" and "a shock to many" to describe the news as South African viewers watched Reeva Steenkamp in Tropika Island of Treasure 5 on Saturday on SABC1.
The Oscar Pistorius story and Tropika Island of Treasure 5 was the second lead story Saturday night on the NBC Nightly News in America with Michelle Kosinski of NBC News who reported from South Africa and from in front of the police station and jail in Pretoria where Oscar Pistorius is being held.
"A production company decided to air the first segment of a television show his girlfriend starred in and was excited about. This is a first look at model Reeva Steenkamp's first television show" said Michelle Kosinski. "Yet now it seems eery to see and hear someone, now gone, who was only days ago savouring life."
"The way that you go out, not just your journey in life, but the way that you go out and you make your exit is so important. You either made an impact in a negative or a positive way," said Reeva Steenkamp in another of the clips from Tropika Island of Treasure 5 seen on the news broadcast.
"She was our mommy. She was our mom and she was always making sure that everyone was okay," Katlego Molai, a Tropika Island of Treasure contestant, told NBC Nightly News on Saturday evening.
"It has been a shock to many - especially seeing Reeva in life on their television screens," said Michelle Kosinski.
The Oscar Pistorius murder charge and Tropika Island of Treasure 5 was the second main lead story on the CBS Evening News on Saturday night as well.
The CBS Evening News also showed South Africans watching "the reality TV show that aired tonight". "The producers decided to go ahead despite her death. The family agree, even as they plan her private memorial."
