''I miss Ruda Landman very much,'' Derek Watts tells me as South Africa's longest running and multiple award winning weekly investigative magazine show, Carte Blanche (Sundays at 19:00 on M-Net) gets ready to celebrate its 22nd anniversary this Sunday evening.
In an interview - the complete one which TV with Thinus readers will be able to read in full on Sunday right here - I asked Derek Watts if he's missing his longtime Carte Blanche co-host. Ruda Landman, who did the show since the beginning for 19 years together with Derek Watts, decided to leave Carte Blanche three years ago.
''She was just such a wonderful person to present Carte Blanche with for 19 years and we have a very close bond,'' Derek Watts tells me. ''I still have lunch with her and she was such a wonderful part of Carte Blanche for so many years. Of course she helped launch it and she has a wonderful integrity and a wonderful depth, and a sense of humour and empathy. Ruda is just wonderful.''
''Of course we've got a lot of new presenters now,'' says Derek Watts. ''Devi Sankaree Govender has stepped into the breach and she's a little tiger and she's really helped to promote Carte Blanche to what we do best. Bongani Bingwa is also just such a fantastic reporter and person. He also has such depth and character - with the ability to ask very decisive questions. Chantal Rutter is absolutely stunning. What a wonderful presenter she is. And Annika Larsen of course is stunning. She's such a great presenter and with one of the best voices of all of us. I think she's got a lovely voice. So we've got a very strong cast of presenters which has helped me get over the loss of Ruda but ja, I do miss Ruda to answer your question.''
On the Carte Blanche Facebook page viewers can now choose which stories they like the most and those will be broadcast this Sunday night as they get the chance to ''direct'' and shape the 22nd anniversary Carte Blanche broadcast.
ALSO READ: M-Net's Carte Blanche promises a ''mystery gift'' for Sunday night's 22nd anniversary show and here's the inserts viewers get to choose from.
