Celebrity MasterChef South Africa edition coming to SABC3

by Thinus Ferreira

Another season of Celebrity MasterChef South Africa will follow the end of the 5th season of the Primedia Studios produced food competition series on SABC3, with South African celebrities who will compete from Saturday 30 November at 20:30.

It will be only the second Celebrity MasterChef SA edition yet on South African television.

This new Celebrity MasterChef SA season comes after the first one which was screened in 2015 between the third and fourth seasons on M-Net - and follows a decade after this first celebrity version which was won by Chris Forrest.

Some of the contestants in the next Celebrity MasterChef South Africa include Expresso morning show presenter Graeme Richards, Siv Ngesi, Dineo Ranaka and singer Holly Rey who will battle it out behind their kitchenette stations to whip up food creations using ingredients from the Pick n Pay pantry. 

The celebrity contestants, using the same purpose-built MasterChef SA set constructed across the two-studio space at Atlantic Studios in Montague Gardens in Cape Town, will compete to win money for various charities.

To amortise the cost of the set and space, the Celebrity MasterChef South Africa season done as a localised version of the Banijay format, was filmed a few months ago already, directly after production of the fifth season ended. 

This is similar to how the first Celebrity MasterChef SA season was filmed at the time in conjunction with the third season.

Celebrity MasterChef SA will be followed by a new 6th season of MasterChef SA on SABC3, again with South African home cooks.

The revived MasterChef SA will conclude its fifth season this coming Saturday night on SABC3 when either Bridget Mangwandi (20, a consumer science student from Bloemfontein and the youngest contestant this season), Chanel Brink (34, an online foodie content creator from Johannesburg) or Nabila Shamshum (23, a school secretary from Johannesburg) will walk away as the winner.

Why MasterChef SA's 5th season axed 5 contestants in the debut episode.

by Thinus Ferreira

Saturday evening's 5th season premiere of MasterChef South Africa on SABC3 ended with the unexpected axing of five contestants who all returned home after just one episode's cooking in the kitchen.

The rugby recruiter and coach Lucas (33) from Worcester, the Johannesburg video producer Andrew (42), the Boksburg content creator Lesego (26), the law firm manager Robyn (28) from Midrand, as well as the environmentalist Ella (39) from Johannesburg were all eliminated after their checked dishes were the lowest-rated out of the 20 contestants.

"It breaks my heart to say this, but your MasterChef SA journey ends here," MasterChef SA judge Katlego Mlambo told the five contestants.

"I'm a very competitive person, so this was pretty serious to me but you've got to be humble in victory and defeat," Lucas said. "It's reignited something in me. It's given me belief and hope. I'll always keep cooking." 

Andrew said that he feels "disappointed". "I didn't expect it to be this short. But we are in the MasterChef kitchen and I didn't perform to the standards".

Lesego said "I'm devastated to leave this early in the competition because I don't think I was able to really show myself. But this is not the end, this is just the start of something different".

Robyn who's lucky charm broke during the cooking challenge said she doesn't believe it had an impact. "I don't feel that my necklace breaking had any effect on the outcome. I choose to carry on in a positive way."

Ella who kept the apron of her dad who had passed away, on underneath her new white MasterChef SA apron, said "I'm quite happy not to have taken my one off. This one belonged to my dad. My dad had the biggest heart. His light shines through and that is the best gift you can give someone - share a bit of light. So I wear it with pride and I know I've done my family proud."

Fifteen contestants from across South Africa are left for the remaining 19 episodes of the Banijay format cooking competition reality show filmed by Homebrew Films at Atlantic Studios and done by Primedia Studios for SABC3.

"knew from the start that this season would only have 15 contestants, but in the pre-auditions, we found 20 really worthy candidates - it was just so difficult to choose only 15," Paul Venter, executive producer, tells TVwithThinus as he explained why the 5th season decided to axe five of them at the end of the first episode.

"We decided to give them all the privilege to come to the kitchen and cook for one episode in the MasterChef SA kitchen - a dream come true for many - but that would then be the last round of auditions, and what great jeopardy to have 5 people going home already in the first episode - drama from scene one, episode one and guaranteed for the whole series!"

According to Paul Venter, the biggest enemy in the MasterChef SA kitchen is and remains time.

"We hear screams and see tears when some candidates fail to make the final adjustments in the final minutes and then we will also have the curious case of the 'stolen pickles' ... which is eventually solved. But will karma send the pickle thief home? Viewers will have to wait and see!"

In Saturday's 5th season debut episode, one contestant told judge Justine Drake that she grew up watching her on the show, while another contestant watched her sister compete on the show in a previous season of the series that has over time become a South African television institution.

Kaye Anne Williams, vice president of content at Primedia Studios, tells TVwithThinus that MasterChef South Africa has become an institution because of two components: food and people.

"For those two reasons, it is not hard to find something that you can relate to and, therefore, incorporate in your own life. Our goal in driving awareness for the new season was to ensure that the average viewer understood that this show was for them and is about them, their food and their stories."

Paul Venter says the latest season of MasterChef SA has "contestants from all four corners of our country, from all walks of life and from as young as 20 and as 'young' as 65".

"Some contestants have roots deeper into the African continent, as far as Congo and as close as Zimbabwe, and some even as far as Taiwan. But one thing that equalises the playing field is the big food dream to win the coveted MasterChef SA title".

MasterChef SA season 5 is set to start 13 July on SABC3 - see the quail eggs inside the pantry.

by Thinus Ferreira

Viewers will be surprised to discover that Pick n Pay can source quail eggs and that gleaming Beko appliances now line the walls, when the 5th season of MasterChef South Africa starts on SABC3 on Saturday 13 July at 19:30 with 20 new South Africans competing in this TV cooking competition.

With the drama in the kitchen moving from the Cape Town harbour and M-Net to a custom-build kitchen and pantry at Atlantic Studios and SABC3, Primedia Studios is bringing the localised version of the Banijay format to a lot more South African viewers' homes on Saturday evenings from next month.

I recently did a day-long set visit while the MasterChef SA contestants behind their cooking stations had to conjure up delicious delights for the three judges - Katlego Mlambo, Zola Nene and Justine Drake.

Across the massive two-studio space that incorporates a lounge area, the cook-off workstations with a clock, as well as a beautiful Pick n Pay pantry furnished in black and brown panelling, the MasterChef SA producers, crew and cameramen captured every angle and every soundbite - hours of footage per day that will be edited to 45 minutes per episode.

From baking and basting to seafood and curries the 20 contestants from across South Africa will once again be given big tasks to perform behind the pots and pans inside the state-of-the-art and pressure-cooker kitchen. The winner gets R1 million.

Besides stressful invention tests, there will again be mystery box challenges, limiting them to a mixed bag of ingredients and viewers will also occasionally see world-renowned local chefs visit the MasterChef SA kitchen.

"The contestants are only as good as their last plate, and anything can happen," says Katlego Mlambo. "It's a constant race against the clock and one flop or sub-standard presentation could cost them their MasterChef apron."

Justine Drake says "The competency of this season's home cooks is much higher than in the previous season. Zola Nene adds: "I was surprised by their clear understanding of advanced cooking techniques and knife skills. These people can cook. The question is, who will continue to improve their know-how and rise to the top?"

Inside the pantry

The Pick n Pay pantry set includes the first-ever half-moon gantry, with the design matching those of current stores and focusing on line rhythm but also allowing curves to soften the space. 

The shelves have everything from fresh produce to grocery basics like eggs, coconut milk, spices, pasta and also hide delightful surprises like quail eggs.

Double-door fridges stock all types of dairy and cheese, charcuterie, red meat and chicken, while a freezer section contains ice cream, frozen berries, and seafood, including prawns and mussels. 

Included here are products from the Pick n Pay Innovations range as well as its healthy food Live Well range. Notable in the pantry is the packaging-free section which carries everything from nuts and goji berries to bulgur wheat to help limit waste as contestants can take the exact quantity they require. 

"Every time I walk into the Pick n Pay pantry, I'm blown away. It's a chef's dream come true," says Katlego Mlambo.

Also notably visible alongside @home, Mervyn Gers bespoke crockery and Wüsthoff knives will be Beko appliances during the 5th season of MasterChef SA - the first time this company is sponsoring a South African TV show.

kykNET adds conflict TV talker with Aden Thomas, promises tears, to rip off the band-aid from old wounds and to surprise guests with unexpected visitors who know them.

by Thinus Ferreira

kykNET is adding a new conflict-focused Afrikaans TV talk show, Sê jou sê, with host Aden Thomas, which will start on Saturday 1 October on both the kykNET (DStv 144) and kykNET & Kie (DStv 145) channels at 19:30 promising tears, to rip off the band-aid from old wounds, and to surprise talk show guests with unexpected visitors who know them.

With Aden Thomas in the studio and with Sê jou sê recorded at Atlantic Studios in Cape Town, Chrislynn Sias will be a field presenter.

Aden Thomas is a radio DJ on Cape Town's Heart FM radio station.

Similar to low-class tabloid American talk shows of the 90s like Maury, Sally Jesse Raphael, Geraldo, Jerry Springer and The JennyJones Show, kykNET says that Sê jou sê will focus on disputes, fights, misunderstandings and alleged deception between partners, family members, loved-ones, friends who are fighting and business partners.

Are Afrikaans-speaking guests going to be throwing chairs? Are they going to be grabbing and pulling each other by the hair while swearing in Afrikaans?

"With Sê jou sê we want to give two opposing parties the opportunity to clear the air face-to-face and to hear all sides of a case," Aden Thomas says in a prepared press release.

"In addition there's the chance that sometimes we will invite a surprise guest who knows one or both parties so that they can have their say over the issue we're trying to solve."

kykNET says that Aden Thomas will rip off the band-aid from old wounds in front of a studio audience to help Sê jou sê participants to find healing and solutions.

"The audience will play an active role in participating in the programme and to give their opinions over what they think is right and wrong," Aden Thomas says.

Chrislynn Sias will be in the streets doing vox pops to solicit comments and opinions from people on the subjects being discussed in studio.

IN IMAGES. The Arendsvlei telenovela on kykNET & kie marks its 500th episode with cake and sparkling wine.

by Thinus Ferreira

The Arendsvlei telenovela on kykNET & Kie (DStv 145) will broadcast its 500th episode tonight at 19:30 and celebrated the milestone on Wednesday at Atlantic Studios in Milnerton with sparkling wine and cake.

The telenovela, produced by Penguins Films, made its debut on 1 October 2018 as a single season series but DStv ratings prompted kykNET to commission it for a further two seasons and to increase episode to four episodes per week from Mondays to Thursdays.

Arendsvlei, filmed at Atlantic Studios in Montague Gardens and Eersteriver, stars Jolene Martin, Jody Abrahams, Crystal Donna Roberts, Melanie du Bois, Kay Smith and many more with Vinette Ebrahim, Chris van Niekerk, Natalia da Rocha and Dann-Jacques Mouton who joined from the third season.

Roberta Durrant, creative producer of Arendsvlei, says she is incredibly grateful to kykNET that they gave Penguin Films the opportunity to tell this story.

"We were able to develop many talents in Cape Town through Arendsvlei. Young actors got their first roles on Arendsvlei and we were able to develop and train new directors, writers, editors and crew members."

Theltom Masimila, creative producer and creator of Arendsvlei, says he is extremely proud of the actors and production team for all the hard work they put in.

"We look forward to telling the stories of the people of Arendsvlei for a very long time to come. And most important of all, we are grateful to the viewers because without them such a production would not exist."

Coronavirus: Production resumes on season 3 of the Afrikaans talk show Tussen Ons on kykNET & Kie that drops the in-studio audience and desk because of Covid-19, Ricky Schroeder joins as floor manager.

by Thinus Ferreira

With national lockdown regulations eased to Level 4 in South Africa production has resumed on the third season of the weekly Afrikaans female talk show Tussen Ons on kykNET & Kie (DStv 145) - but without the 6-row studio audience, the addition of clear social distancing between the 5-women panel, and with Ricky Schroeder as the new floor manager.

The View-based talker filmed at Atlantic Studios in Cape Town and produced by Homebrew Films was suddenly forced to stop recording 7 weeks ago during the Covid-19 lockdown as the rest of South Africa's TV and film industry grounded to a halt.

Tussen Ons has now filmed and broadcast its first new episode - episode 6 of the third season - after the relaxation of South Africa's national lockdown measures. The hourlong show has however been forced to drop the in-studio audience and had to make some other changes.

In the new episode panellist Tracey Lange, who shares the talk show stage with Kay Karriem, Zelda la Grange, Ingrid Jones and Success Lekabe, said "goodness, this is our very first recording during the lockdown times, so without an audience naturally, which is very different than usual for all of us".

Tracey Lange announced that Ricky Schoeder has joined Tussen Ons as floor manager. "There's a new addition to the whole team. His name is Ricky Schroeder".

Set design-wise the normal Tussen Ons talk show table is gone, now replaced by an oval-shaped baby blue soft cushion-couch doubling up as a coffee table in the middle of the set.

The 5 women have also noticeably been spaced further apart as part of the government-mandated Covid-19 social distancing regulations that studios must now follow.

kykNET commissions a new Afrikaans female panellist talk show, Tussen Ons, starting in July on kykNET & Kie.

M-Net's Afrikaans TV division, kykNET, has commissioned a new weekly Afrikaans female-skewed panel talk show entitled Tussen Ons, that will be produced in Cape Town and that will kick off on kykNET & Kie (DStv 145) in July.

Based on the female panel talk shows like The View and The Talk in America, Tussen Ons ("Just Between Us") produced by Homebrew Films, will be filmed before a live studio audience with panellists Zelda la Grange, Kay Karriem, Tracey Lange, Ingrid Jones and Success Lekabe.

Kay Karriem and Ingrid Jones are successful magazine editors with Ingrid Jones who appeared on VIA's (DStv 147) female panel programme, Wie weet beter?

Tracey Lange is fresh off her live TV presenting gig as co-host of the 9th season of Dancing with the Stars SA now on (M-Net 101) and last month quit her radio job in order to become a Tussen Ons talk show panelist.

Zelda la Grange minted fame after her time serving as former president Nelson Mandela's aide, and Success Lekabe is a successful radio presenter.

The Tussen Ons quintet will cover one subject per episode, addressing a wide range of topics and issues over the course of the season that matter especially to women.

The show, produced kykNET and Homebrew Films responsible for Jou Show, Bravo!, and Kwêla, will be filmed at Atlantic Studios in Cape Town before a live audience.

Tussen Ons will air every Thursday night at 20:00 from July 2018 on kykNET & Kie.

As kykNET's Cape Town set and filmed soap, Suidooster, marks its first Friday broadcast with episode 468, the Afrikaans show going 5 days a week promises even more drama and intrigue.

When episode 468 of the TV soap Suidooster [Southeaster] unspools this Friday at 18:30, it will mark the Afrikaans soap's first foray into Fridays after M-Net's Afrikaans channels division, kykNET, in the latter part of 2017 decided to increase the drama of the people of the fictional Ruiterbosch community from 4 to 5 days a week from April 2018.

While Friday will mark episode 468 of Suidooster on the kykNET (DStv 144) and kykNET & Kie (DStv 145) channels, the soap, produced by Suidooster Films and filmed at Atlantic Studios in Milnerton, Cape Town, recently also completed its milestone 500th episode.

"Since February we're filming 6 episodes in order to broadcast 5 episodes per week," Wilmer Muller, Suidooster publicist told TVwithThinus. "We were told in November about the extension to 5 days per week and the production team has had enough time to adequately prepare and to adjust all of the production schedules".

Suidooster episodes are filmed 6 to 8 weeks before the broadcast date, but the show's cast and crew are actually on a production break this week.

The Suidooster cast member Eden Classens also took a temporary hiatus from the show. He is practising his dance moves for the Sunday live shows as one of the remaining contestants in Dancing with the Stars SA on sister channel M-Net (DStv 101), produced by Rapid Blue that's nearing its live finale at the end of April, after which he will return to Suidooster.

Asked what the show has learnt from the feedback from viewers the past year, Wilmer Muller says "it's of cardinal importance to be authentic, realistic and honest with storylines. From all of the feedback - from focus groups, social media and the interaction with the public - it's clear that most viewers are positive about what Suidooster delivers".

As to what's waiting in the months ahead on Suidooster, viewers can get ready for even more drama and several shockers.

The relationships and family ties of the residents of Ruiterbosch will be tested anew in the upcoming few weeks.

Ian and Bridgette October's marriage is crumbling with Ian getting more and more involved in sinister activities in the Bridge - his latest business venture and the controversial hangout place in the Suidooster centre. And did another woman catch his eye?

Meanwhile Siya and Michelle's relationship has changed after the hostage situation in his flat and Siya will be making a shocking revelation over more of the events that had transpired that night.

The Samsodiens are still struggling to accept Eben's presence in Ruiterbosch as he tries to get to know Bianca better. But is Eben really the man who he portrays himself to be?

Suidooster started on 16 November 2015 with 3 weekly episodes that got extended to 4 episodes since July 2016 and now 5 per week.

kykNET's Cape Town soap Suidooster extended from 4 to 5 episodes per week from April 2018.

The Afrikaans Cape Town set and filmed soap Suidooster for kykNET & Kie (DStv 145) is ramping up production after M-Net's Afrikaans TV division decided to extend the soap to 5 days a week from April 2018.

Suidooster, set in the fictional Ruiterbosch suburb, produced by Suidooster Films and filmed on set at Atlantic Studios, will be shown 5 days a week from 2 April on kykNET & Kie and kykNET (DStv 144) at 18:30.

The first Friday episode of Suidooster will be on Friday 6 April 2018.

"kykNET viewers are incredibly enthusiastic about Suidooster and have asked since the first episode whether the soap couold be broadcast 5 days a week," says Karen Meiring, M-Net director for Afrikaans channels.

"It's really nice for kykNET to break the news before Christmas that the Samsodiens, Octobers, Du Plooys, Gerbers, Daniels brothers and the rest of the Ruiterbosch residents are going to visit South African living rooms every weekday from next year."

Actress Denise Newman who portrays Bridgette October says "although we'll have to learn more words, we do it with a smile because Suidooster fans deserve a Friday episode. Their support of the soap is phenomenal."

Jill Levenberg who plays Mymoena Samsodien says "it's the best Christmas present for Suidooster fans".

The soap started on 16 November 2015 with 3 weekly episodes that got extended to 4 episodes since July 2016.

The soap's permanent cast include stars like Abduraghmaan Adams, Cedwyn Joel, Dean Smith, Denise Newman, Desiré Gardner, Eden Classens, Gantane Kusch, Gideon Lombard, Greta Pietersen, Irshaad Ally, Jill Levenberg, Lauren Joseph, Marcel van Heerden, Marco Spaumer, Maurice Paige, Portia Joel, Simone Biscombe, Theresa Sedras and Vashti Prins.