by Thinus Ferreira
The reality competition show Ultimate Braai Master has been picked up for a 7th season and will this time be broadcast on e.tv and streamed on Netflix SA while it has become the second series that will be produced as a Covid-19-safe bubble production in the Eastern Cape following shortly on the heels of M-Net's upcoming latest season of Survivor SA that was also shot in the province.
Gqeberha, previously Port Elizabeth, will pay R2 million to the production of the 7th season of Ultimate Braai Master, with host Justin Bonello, for the series to film a self-contained season within the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality.
In previous seasons, Ultimate Braai Master produced by Okuhle Media, would criss-cross South Africa in roadtrips for braai challenges at various scenic locations in the country.
However, with the ongoing Covid-pandemic, the only viable and practical possibility is to film a new season of Ultimate Braai Master over the course of 6 weeks that is geographically contained. This is similar to what Afrokaans did for M-Net with Survivor SA: Immunity Island in the Eastern Cape that will play out on the Wild Coast from June.
Besides Justin Bonello, the chef-judges Peter Goffe-Wood and Benny Masekwameng will return to judge the braai challenges in which teams of two compete against each other to win R1 million.
The season of 13 episodes will again be shown on e.tv and for the first time in Ultimate Braai Master history, on Netflix SA as well.
About the Nelson Mandela Bay metro paying R2 million to the show, mayor Nqaba Bhanga in a statement says that "We believe sport and entertainment unifies our people, it's not about politics. We support this - this show will put us on Netflix, we will be watched by the entire globe and throughout South Africa and we will be the centre of attraction".
"We don't want to compete with Durban and Cape Town, we are competing with the world. We are not setting the bar low."
"We want to see value for money as our hospitality industry has suffered and we want to inject money that will assist the industry."
Thsonono Buyeye, deputy exeuctive mayor, says "We welcome this show, the exposure that we will be receiving as a city is massive. We fully support this, we wish to thank SRAC, I think this is a brilliant one that we should support. It is what we have been calling for; that we should be a destination of choice for such events".
