BREAKING. Three Talk with Noeleen on SABC3 finally adds a studio audience; dumps its white set for another new one after just a year.

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Three Talk with Noeleen, SABC3's weekday talk show with Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu has finally - and suddenly - added a live studio audience on Tuesday at the same time as it unceremoniously dumped its new white set and unexpectedly replaced its red and white on-air imaging with translucent blue.

Neither SABC3 nor Urban Brew Studios which produces the daily chatfest for the channel made any announcement about the addition of a live studio audience and also didn't announce the new set.

The new set, still by Michael Gill Designs and constructed by Sets Drapes Screens has now returned to a more claustrophobic look as seen in some previous years, with the Three Talk with Noeleen set now having a dark-toned, fake mahogany and circular aquamarine look with bland tan wall panelling.

The back panels are interspersed with a faux aquamarine swirl design and an overhead perspex blue neon sign with the show's logo has been added. A shaggy carpet has been added although the square glass coffee table has been retained as well the concave raised corner - possibly the same white one now just given a mahonagy coloured tint.

Studio audience seating - 18 seats in total although some seats were embarrassingly shown as empty with cushions towards the end of Tuesday's episode - are the same light tan colour as the two new main couches.

As far back as December 2009 TV with Thinus has reported about Urban Brew Studios' attempt to add a live studio audience to Three Talk with Noeleen, plans which constantly got scuppered and postponed.

The studio audience - the seating arrangement very strangely placed perpendicularly to the raised dais on which Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu and her interviewees are seated (as if they're supposed to be part of an "on-stage play" together with the talk show host, as opposed to being onlookers) clapped and some were given a handheld cordless microphone to ask questions.

Urban Brew Studios told TV with Thinus that Three Talk with Noeleen will now be hosting a weekly studio audience. "There won't be a set day for this as we will determine which shows will include audiences depending on the subject of the day. We want the audience to have a fantastic experience so we'll ensure that when they do join us in studio, they'll be in for a treat with great entertainment, inspiration and information."

Viewers and fans of Three Talk with Noeleen on SABC3 who want to be a part of the in-studio audience can send email to 3talkinfo@urbanbrew.co.za in order to be included as studio audience members in upcoming shows.

About the new set and on-air look Urban Brew Studios tell me that "in the world of live TV, nothing should be permament. We're always tweaking, developing and striving to better our show."

"After 9 years on TV, we never want to get too comfortable, so we always see Three Talk as a work in progress. Yesterday we went on air with a new look that reflects where we're at right now. It's sophisticated and clean with a touch of sparkle. It provides us with more space, and of course, the fantastic opportunity to have a live audience."

Regarding the sudden set change after just a year, Urban Brew Studios says that "the same way our content is always evolving, our set should too".

"Although we loved our white set, it had been 13 months and it was time for a little makeover. Our new look, like our subject matter, reflects current trends. Our wide variety of looks over the past 9 years shows that we aren't afraid to move with the times and change things up and we hope to continue to keep surprising our viewers for years to come."