BREAKING. The Wedding Bashers on M-Net renewed for a second season, looking for wedding contestants for the new season.

M-Net (DStv 101) has renewed the adorably diverse wedding competition complete with hilarious schadenfreude commentary, The Wedding Bashers, for a second season with South Africans planning to get married in 2018 in a Batsuit, among fairies in the woods, or planning a day long cow slaughter to celebrate, who can now enter.

It's not yet clear which of the four delightful wedding commentators will be back, although socialite Denise Zimba, Food Network's Siba Mtongana, the former Miss South Africa Cindy Nell-Roberts, and the former Survivor SA Champions star and wedding planner Zavion Kotze are all likely to return after working well during the first eye-popping season in 2017.

In The Wedding Bashers, the wedding crasher foursome show up at jaw-dropping weddings across South Africa and judge various aspects. Weddings are not necessarily expensive but are definitely out of the ordinary, showcasing the flair and creativity - with mixed results - of South Africans tying the knot.

Produced by [sic] Entertainment and executive produced by Gavin Wratten, the first season of The Wedding Bashers that was a ratings and social media success for M-Net, had viewers in stitches over the wide array of eclectic and interesting South African weddings that were featured in the show.

People interested in having The Wedding Bashers come to their wedding celebration with the chance of winning prizes can now enter here for the possibility of appearing in the second season.

IN PICTURES. M-Net unveils The Wedding Bashers with the biggest flower show spectacle any South African TV show launch has ever seen.

It wasn't the Chelsea Flower Show. It was bigger and better.

M-Net on Thursday morning had a media launch for its new reality show, The Wedding Bashers, starting on M-Net (DStv 101), Sunday 17 September at 17:00.

For the event, M-Net, with the help of Zavion Kotze, created the biggest, most eye-poppingly beautiful, and totally over-the-top flower show media launch spectacle that any broadcaster or TV channel has ever put on in the history of South African television.

Besides everything dripping with gold, silver and flowers everywhere that included an unbelievable flower-wall, each guest got two hand-made, personalised flower arrangements.

Men received a boutonnière and women a corsage that were pinned on at arrival at Zavion Kotze's flower table.

When guests left, everyone received a little golden bag filled with cosmetics, some treats and personalised little cards from each of the presenters, as well as, again, a beautiful flower arrangement.

Scattered all over next to beautiful floral arrangements were portraits of wedding couples, frames from, I thought, Mr Price Home or Boardmans with the stock photography the frame comes with, to enhance and fit the theme.

"No love," I was told. "These are photos of the actual couples who will be featuring their wedding in The Wedding Bashers on M-Net".

The press - who for once actually dressed up a bit as instructed to please do in the (wedding) invitation - were so truly bowled over by the amazing "wedding day/flower show" presentation at M-Net's The Wedding Bashers media launch at the Saxon Hotel in Johannesburg, that a large number of them decided to simply stay.

More than a dozen and a half media kept socialising for at least 2 more hours after M-Net's event ended as the champagne kept flowing and the media excitedly kept chattering.

Long after M-Net did a Q&A with the press and showed a specially edited preview of the show with outtakes from several of the upcoming episodes, members of the media simply refused to leave the posh Sandhurst enclave - utterly enticed and dazzled over the magical atmosphere M-Net's The Wedding Bashers created.

The Wedding Bashers, produced by [SIC] Entertainment with Gavin Wratten and ProVerb [Tebogo Thekiso] as co-executive producers, will feature 22 weddings that are attended and judged by Zavion Kotze, Cindy-Nell Roberts, Siba Mtongana and Denise Zimba (who didn't attend the event) as the 4-some presenters.

Here's M-Net's The Wedding Bashers media launch in photos:

 

The Food Network in South Africa and Africa from Scripps Networks Interactive getting its own regionalised and curated channel feed on DStv from September.

The South African and African version of The Food Network (DStv 175) from Scripps Networks Interactive will be getting its own customised channel feed for the region from September on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform.

 Scripps' new regional content boss Paul Welling - formerly from Discovery Networks International and now Scripps Networks Interactive's new head of content for the UK & EMEA region since his move to Scripps in May - made the announcement about The Food Network.

Scripps says the decision to give South African and African viewers a better customised channel feed follows significant audience and viewership growth for the channel in the region.

The better packaged and curated Food Network for South Africa will be noticed from 1 September. Scripps says the regionalised Food Network remains commited to commissioning original local productions and bringing its hit United States series to South Africa's DStv subscribers.

Currently Scripps Networks International distributes three lifestyle channels across the United Kingdom and the Europe, Middle East and Africa (UK & EMEA) region.

Food Network and Travel Channel are available on MultiChoice's DStv in South Africa, and Fine Living is available on the Chinese operator StarSat's platform.

Upcoming programming on The Food Network include new seasons of Siba's Table, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and Man Fire Food.

The 3rd season of Siba Mtongana's Siba's Table with 10 episodes is subtitled "Sibalicious" and starts on 7 September at 20:00.

In this new season Siba Mtongana gives traditional food a modern makeover and her signature "Sibalicious" spin, reinterpreting recipes in her own way and showing viewers how.

A new series of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives also premieres on Food Network in September. This time, host Guy Fieri crosses the Atlantic to sample the varied cuisines of Spain, before heading to Mexico and back to his home turf in the USA for a tour of foodie delights.

There’s more of Guy in Guy’s Grocery Games, where four talented chefs are sent running through the aisles in a high-stakes, high-skills, grocery store cooking competition.

In Man Fire Food, Roger Mooking’s American odyssey continues throughout September as the King of Braai travels the length and breadth of the US in search of the best chefs that cook with fire.

From small campfires to creative custom-made grills and smokers, he meets with home cooks, pitmasters and chefs in outdoor kitchens across the country, who share their culinary secrets while cooking up a storm.

A brand new series of Chopped premieres on Food Network in October in which four chefs face off, cooking with an unusual combination of ingredients to create extraordinary three-course meals.

Bakers vs Fakers is also set to premiere, featuring host Lorraine Pascale and a panel of guest judges who will try to sift the bakers from the fakers, with a cash prize up for grabs.

To celebrate Halloween, Food Network brings some spooky US food competitions to televisions in October.

In Halloween Baking Championship, top bakers create creepy-crawly desserts and towering confections of terror to prove their baking prowess. 

The deliciously scary returning series Halloween Wars unites cake decorators, candy makers and pumpkin carvers to build the most scream-inducing confections going around.

The Food Network in South Africa and Africa on DStv from Scripps Networks Interactive getting its own customised channel feed from September.

Paul Welling, VP of content, announcing from 1 Sept we will have our very own SA feed on @DStv ! #sibastable pic.twitter.com/lvJ9DxjYkm

— Food Network SAfrica (@FoodNetworkSA) August 15, 2017

The South African and African version of The Food Network (DStv 175) from Scripps Networks Interactive is apparently getting its own Food Network channel feed from September on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform.

The Food Network had a media launch today in Cape Town with a similar one set for Wednesday in Johannesburg for the new season of Siba's Table with TV chef and presenter Siba Mtongana.

In Cape Town on Tuesday, Scripps' new regional content boss Paul Welling announced something in the line of South Africa that will be getting its own Food Network channel feed from September although specific details are not available or known yet.

Currently Scripps Networks International distributes three lifestyle channels across the United Kingdom and the Europe, Middle East and Africa (UK & EMEA) region.

Food Network and Travel Channel are available on MultiChoice's DStv in South Africa, and Fine Living is available on the Chinese operator StarSat's platform but getting zero publicity.

Travel Channel and Fine Living are also available on Econet Media's Kwese platform elsewhere in Africa since February this year.

TVwithThinus isn't able to comprehensively report on the newly packaged Food Network channel feed for South Africa from Scripps and what exactly that - and the change - entails since there was no invitation to the media launch event and by Tuesday night there wasn't any press release or stories elsewhere yet to reference from media who did attend.

Although I wasn't told beforehand that there would be any Food Network launch for Siba's Table, and with PR company Mortimer Harvey in South Africa that didn't respond to any of the media enquiries made on Tuesday about the event, it is however clear from a Food Network SA tweet on social media that some type of adjusted and bespoke Food Network is coming to DStv from September.

Tuesday's media event was significant since it also marks the first public appearance in South Africa of TV executive Paul Welling - formerly from Discovery Networks International.

This was Paul Welling's first time back in South Africa and speaking publicly after his jump to Scripps Networks Interactive in his new position as Scripps Networks Interactive's head of content for the UK & EMEA region since his move to Scripps in May this year.

There is no transcript of what Paul Welling said and announced at Tuesday's Food Network and Siba's Table media event, neither is there any press release available about Siba Mtongana and what she had to say.

However the upcoming 3rd season with 10 new episodes of the successful Siba's Table is set to start on 7 September at 20:00 on the Food Network.

Viewers will see a slight change in the upcoming 3rd season since the start of the series on the Food Network in September 2013.

Now Siba Mtongana will give traditional dishes and recipes her "sibalicous" spin by showing viewers how she creates her own unique re-interpretation to food ranging from.braai pork and snacks to steak and even creating a blind date for some of her friends.

It's 'I do' for wedding shows on SA television as new M-Net reality series, The Wedding Bashers, gets ready to judge South African weddings.

M-Net is getting in on the wedding wonderful craze sweeping South African television with its new reality show, The Wedding Bashers that's gearing up to film - and judge - various South African weddings with the show set for broadcast during September.

It's definitely a case of "I do" when it comes wedding shows on South African television.

While viewers simply can't get enough of the lavish South African celebrity weddings that continue to be featured on Top Billing on SABC3 and the buzz-worthy, spectacle prone reality series Our Perfect Wedding on Mzansi Magic (DStv 161), TV channels are ramping up their wedding programming for 2017.

Despite criticism that it's cheapening the act of getting marriage, A+E Networks UK will debut Married at First Sight South Africa on 3 February on Lifetime (DStv 131), while kykNET (DStv 144) is working on Ons Sprokiesbruilof.

M-Net is now countering with The Wedding Bashers, produced by [sic] entertainment and Gavin Wratten also responsible for Idols, in which South Africans can win big by having their weddings judged by a party of celebrity wedding crashers who will weigh in on all aspects of weddings ranging from R20 000 to over R1 million.

For The Wedding Bashers M-Net and [sic] entertainment are using someone old, someone new, someone borrowed and someone blue: former Survivor South Africa host Mark Bayly as the "best man" presenter, socialite and V-Entertainment presenter Denise Zimba, Food Network chef Siba Mtongana, fashionista and former Miss South Africa Cindy Nell-Roberts, and former Survivor SA Champions star and wedding planner Zavion Kotze who also has a show on VIA (DStv 147).

The Wedding Bashers - in a cross between Come Dine with Me SA and Four Weddings South Africa - will see Denise Zimba snark over the wedding entertainment, Siba Mtongana judge the food, Cindy Nell-Roberts weigh in on the fashion, with Zavion Kotze, who recently got married as well, who will be giving his view about the decor.

People getting married have until Valentine's Day - 14 February - to enter their wedding to be judged.

'The whole idea behind The Wedding Bashers is that we've all been to weddings," said Gavin Wratten.

"We all have sat with a bunch of people that we may or may nor like. We all sit and mind our p's and q's while the wedding is on, but then when we get in the car on the way home and we go: 'Oh my goodness, did you see what she was wearing?"

"So our wedding bashers are going to be going to weddings and judging each wedding. And while the show is called Wedding Bashers, it's actually The Wedding Bash. We're not really really there to try and rip everybody's wedding apart," said Gavin Wratten.

"They're going to be honest - and they're going to love some moments of the weddings but they're also going to comment on parts of some weddings they find questionable."

Second season of Siba's Table with Siba Mtongana starting today on Food Network at 20:00

The new second season of Siba's Table with Siba Mtongana starts today on Food Network (DStv 175) at 20:00 as the celebrity chef gets to work on a new series of recipes.

In the second season of 10 episodes, viewers can watch Siba Mtongana prepare chicken salad vir bacon wrapped greens for her musician friends in the first episode, as well as showing her culinary talent with everything from seared tuna to roast pork in subsequent episodes.

Siba Mtongana will give advice, share ideas and show how viewers how to do several themed meals, ranging from anniversary dinners to colourful African celebrations.

Food Network gives Siba Mtongana a 2nd season for Siba's Table and a new series, Siba in the Kitchen; Reza Mohammad goes to Far East.

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Scripps Networks International has commissioned a further three new original shows for the Food Network (DStv 175) for the UK and Europe, Middle East and Africa (UK & EMEA) regions, with Reza Mohammad and Siba Mtongana, both regulars on the channel, doing new series.

Reza Mohammad will do 7 episodes of Reza Spice Prince of Thailand and 8 episodes of Reza Spice Prince of Vietnam under the "Spice Prince" franchise which will be broadcast on Food Network from 6 October.

Siba in the Kitchen - a working title for her new show - will start in the first quarter of 2015 for 5 episodes, followed by a second season of 10 episodes of Siba's Table in autumn next year.

The second season of Siba's Table will again be filmed in Cape Town and production will start in early 2015. The show became the 2nd most popular programme on Food Network in 2013 across the EMEA region.

"Discovering and nurturing local talent is a key focus for us, helping us to reflect the cultural diversity of the whole region that we operate in," says Nick Thorogood, the senior vice president of content and marketing of Scripps Networks UK & EMEA.

"By investing in our top ranking talent, we are able to ensure that we are creating exciting and fresh programming that appeals to both local and global audiences, all of which help our channel portfolio grow," says Nick Thorogood.

"I'm excited once again for the opportunity to share my cooking passion with the world to revive the lost love for home cooking," says Siba Mtongana. "I'm really looking forward to my next two series and creating even more magic".

"I have loved expanding my repertoire with mouth-watering dishes from the Far East and will share with you my sumptuous interpretation of the food inspired by my travels," says Reza Mahammad.

BREAKING. America's Cooking Channel buys Scripps Networks International's Siba's Table with Siba Mtongana.

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The Cooking Channel in the United States has acquired the South African TV production Siba's Table with Siba Mtongana from Scripps Networks International, making her the first South African celebrity chef to present a TV series on an American TV channel.

Siba's Table, filmed in Cape Town, was shown in 2013 on the Food Network on MultiChoice's DStv with a Christmas themed special episode. Its her second TV outing, after doing Cooking with Siba for M-Net's Mzansi magic TV channel.

Siba's Table will start on 5 April on the Cooking Channel which is available in 60 million homes in the United States.

"I shared Siba's Table with our colleagues stateside and are thrilled for Siba that Cooking Channel will be premiering the series in April for American audiences to enjoy," says Nick Thorogood, the senior vice president of content and marketing for the UK and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region for Scripps Networks International.

"I'm ecstatic about this wonderful news and really honoured to join the Cooking Channel in the United States," says Siba Mtongana. "This is great news for me, but more so for my beloved country, South Africa, as it will once again place the 'rainbow nation' on the map".

BREAKING. Food Network producing a local South African version of Chopped; 10 episodes of Chopped South Africa coming in 2014.

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Food Network (DStv 175) is producing a local version of its international reality food hit Chopped for South Africa, with Chopped South Africa which will start on the Food Network during the second quarter of 2014 in South Africa.

In the 10 hour long episodes of Chopped South Africa with presenter Denvor Phokaners and judges and fellow Food Network personality Jenny Morris and Siba Mtongana, as well as David van Staden, Lindsay Venn, Rebecca Hurst and Reuben Riffel, four chefs will be tasked to try and try make a three-course meal out of everyday ingredients.

After every course a contestant gets "chopped", until the last person wins R40 000.

The first season of Chopped South Africa follows the growing slate of local South African productions on the Food Network such as Jenny Morris Cooks Morocco, Siba's Table and Reza's African Kitchen.

Chopped South Africa is produced by Food Network in response to the growing and passionate foodie scene which has seen other broadcasters finding continued success with shows such as MasterChef South Africa on M-Net, and Come Dine with Me South Africa on BBC Entertainment.

According to sources, M-Net is for instance working on not just a third season of MasterChef South Africa for 2014, but also a MasterChef South Africa Celebrity version, doubling up on the MasterChef SA content due to the success of the show for the South African pay-TV broadcaster.

Chopped South Africa is produced by Snelco Prod. with Sue Nell as executive producer, in association with Ukhamba Communications. Eugene Naidoo is the director of Chopped South Africa.

"Chopped is the most highly rated and popular series on Food Network in South Africa and this new local commission will give more than 40 home grown chefs the chance to compete for victory in South Africa's very own Chopped kitchen," says Nick Thorogood, the senior vice president for content and marketing at Scripps for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region.

BREAKING. Filming of Siba's first Food Network series, Siba's Table, starts in Cape Town.

Filming has started on Siba's Table in Cape Town, celebrity chef Siba Mtongana's new TV cooking show for the Food Network which will be seen in South Africa as well as 85 countries across Africa, the Middle East, Europe and the United Kingdom.

It follows after The Food Network signed Siba Mtongana - known as Siba - to produce a brand-new South African cooking show for the channel last year, following her TV show Cooking with Siba on the Mzansi Magic channel programmed by M-Net.

The young black food editor became the second local South African chef to get her own Food Network TV show after Jenny Morris. Filming was delayed until early 2013 due to Siba Mtongana's pregnancy who gave birth to a healthy baby boy in September 2012.

Siba's Table will have 10 half-hour episodes in which Siba Mtongana creates a range of dishes for friends and family.

"Each episode of Siba's Table recreates a chapter of her Cape Town life, as she draws on influences from her childhood, her experience as a food editor, as well as vibrant local artisan producers and the local cutting-edge restaurant scene," says the Food Network.

"Part 'how to' and part lifestyle, Siba's Table is an irresistible half hour slice of recipe ideas, tips and inspiration for all occasions, from weekend brunch and instant suppers, to family feasts and beach braais."

"Siba epitomises the rich fusion culture of South African food today," says Nick Thorogood, the senior vice president for content and marketing at Scripps for the Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region.

"Siba is an exciting and charismatic talent and Siba's Table is the perfect way to showcase and share her inspiring and contemporary dishes across South Africa and beyond," says Nick Thorogood.