INTERVIEW. Devi Sankaree Govender on Carte Blanche Consumer.

Carte Blanche Consumer started tonight at 19:00 on M-Net, hosted by Devi Sankaree Govender, as a brand-new weekly Carte Blanche addition to the Sunday night show, that will be focused on consumer issues.

I asked her a few questions on what viewers will get to see on Carte Blanche Consumer, how she feels when confronting crooks and what consumer advice she has for people. Devi talked about being a working mom, a home-body and her ''off the wall'' diary.

Click on READ MORE below to access the full interesting interview!

You don't seem to get scared – at least not on camera – when confronting crooks. How do you feel inside when you have to walk up to alleged swindlers and cheaters and confront them?
The adrenaline is pumping like crazy! I can't say that I'm afraid, I think that after doing this for so many years, it becomes so routine. That said, there have been quite a few encounters which reminded me that I'm really on the knife's edge and literally anything can happen, including a few klaps.
I'm not gung-ho about doing this though – I don't walk into obviously dangerous situations and if I feel that a situation may be a bit sticky, then I call in the heavies for protection. However, as luck will have it, whenever we did have security, nothing happened!

Carte Blanche Consumer seems to be a full-on offshoot of the main show but focusing on all kinds of consumer issues. Viewers have gotten to know you as pretty much a very tough cookie in the mould of Ruda Landman when tackling rip-off scandals without fear or favour. Are you ready for doing even more of just these stories on a weekly basis?
Ready, willing and so looking forward to it. I'm fortunate to have a job which I love - investigative stories are really exciting to work on, there's always so much going on. And the story is always changing as you go along, which pretty much means that you have to be on your toes. Last week, a viewer asked me what it felt like to always be in confrontation mode and did it not affect my personality? The short answer is that when you're on shoot, you're in a specific mode and when you come home, you revert to being a mum and a wife. Every working mum does that, every single day, so I'm not alone!

Is there something that you have learned over the years, is there one tip that you can give ordinary consumers to do or be or not do, as we enter 2010?
Never sign anything, unless you have read the terms and conditions, which are certainly not consumer friendly and often confusing. And, if you don’t understand it, ask. And, if you disagree with the terms and conditions, rather re-visit whether you want to continue with the service. It could save you lots of hassles in the future because once you've signed it, it's a deal and there's no going back.

When you're not hunting for consumer scandals and exposing consumer rip-offs, how do you relax?
Relax? What’s that? No, seriously, I’m a home-body – and love spending time with my husband and children. ''Me time'' is an hour before bed when I get to read.

You will still be working for the main Carte Blanche show on a Sunday as well. How crazy is your diary? How do you fit it all in?
We are now working for three different shows per week and is goes without saying that my diary is completely off the wall – but it all somehow fits in through good organisation. The Carte Blanche office organizes the presenters' diaries so that there's no confusion about where you're meant to be. At this stage, I'm grateful that there are only 7 days in the week!

Carte Blanche Medical on Thursdays at 19:00 on M-Net