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.

The men's lifestyle magazine show The Man Cave from Cheeky Media switches to M-Net for a new season, adds Jonathan Boyton-Lee as presenter: 'The cool thing is that it's a lot freer than other shows'.

by Thinus Ferreira

The South African lifestyle magazine show The Man Cave is making a return to television and is shifting from SABC3 to M-Net (DStv 101) on Saturdays at 21:30, starting tonight on 20 February and adding Jonathan Boynton-Lee as one of the presenters.

The lifestyle magazine show catering to a male South African audience, although women can watch too, has an initial 10-episode order. The show is still produced, like before, by Cheeky Media but this time for M-Net.

The presenters are Siv Ngesi, comedian Jason Goliath and the radio jock and petrol-head Warrick Stock who have all been involved with The Man Cave before, with the former Top Billing presenter, Jonathan Boynton-Lee who has also made inroads as a producer and actor the past few years, joining The Man Cave from this season as one of the presenters.

M-Net says that The Man Cave will entertain "with its action-packed line-up of competitive challenges, adventures, casual conversations, engagements with local heroes and sporting stars, bucket-list adventures, supercars and classic rides".

In the new season, The Man Cave presenters will also look at specific societal issues, explore South Africa and its people, discover "the mythical bond" between man and machine, and also host casual, non-scripted conversations with top South African personalities.

Speaking about how his involvement with the new season of The Man Cave came about, Jonathan Boynton-Lee tells TVwithThinus that "with a lot of the presenters on the show I do a lot of shooting with - Siv Ngesi is one of them - we do a lot of content creation together, and we've done a lot of shows together".

"The executive producer Yusuf Stevens is also a partner of mine in production, so we've been trying to put it together for quite a while, and I've been a guest on the show before. This season they've approached me and asked me to be part of the show".

Being back on-screen and presenting within the television magazine format, Jonathan Boynton-Lee says that "every show is different - even magazine shows - they've all got different kinds of styles. Even reality TV we know is scripted a little bit where you can play a bit of a character but you can also be yourself".

"I think that the cool thing about The Man Cave is that it's a lot freer than other shows."

"What you see is what you get. We're all having a good jol on TV and we're just enjoying ourselves and being ourselves as well. I find with The Man Cave it's much less scripted. There's pretty much no script and we just go with it - which I love. The immediacy of it is really, really cool and makes for good television".

As to who gets to do what inserts, who tackles which topics or who does certain profile interviews, Jonathan Boynton-Lee says that "obviously it's a lot to do with availability because a lot of us are busy with several other projects, so availability is a big thing".

"It's also always nice to co-present because you work off of the energy of other presenters and we all got such different energies that all work together, so it's lovely to always present with someone else."

"It's normally got to do with availability and also the suitability of the insert. Jason Goliath is really good with interviews and he does all of the celebrity interviews in The Man Cave."

"Siv and I are very competitive, so all the sporting stuff and competing against each other and adventure stuff we do that, and Warras also has got his own strengths - we all got our own strengths that we pair with the different inserts."

"Obviously we also do a lot of things together, like tonight's debut episode of The Man Cave on M-Net will be all of us together competing on a Survivor type challenge with Survivor SA host Nico Panagio."

Besides his on-screen presenting and acting work in TV and film, Jonathan Boynton-Lee is also a producer and has likewise been impacted by the continuing Covid-19 global pandemic that has caused havoc in South Africa's TV and film industry.

"The impact has been massive. All the big productions came to a grinding halt in the beginning. I've been on a lot of sets that have been shut down because someone came had come into contact with someone who was Covid-positive and then the whole production has to shut down."

"Also obviously the whole way we shoot things now is very different, with masks and social distancing and other protocols."

"It's a very difficult adjustment but it's something you have to get used to. I'm not a fan of the online space but I appreciate the online space - Zoom and all of that stuff - but nothing beats the collaborative effort of filmmaking and doing it with crews and casts in the flesh."

"So Covid's had a huge impact - especially the performance industry - performers are really struggling," he says.

Earlier this month Jonathan Boynton-Lee and Siv Ngesi headed to KwaZulu-Natal for a 2-day trip hostel by the province's tourism promotion body to show how visitors can travel and enjoy the sights and sounds of the province safely amidst the pandemic.

"That was the first kind of proper - it wasn't so much a holiday because we were actually doing work promoting KZN Tourism - and we're working on a travel show with them which we're going to be doing as well because we love KwaZulu-Natal as a destination," Jonathan says.

"And in regards to travelling during Covid-19 it was almost like being back to normal. You know, people wear their masks, they use sanitiser, wash their hands, and keep their distance."

"We weren't in very crowded places - the beaches are quite empty and the hotels are very, very good with following protocol, so it almost felt as if everything's back to normal, which is very cool".

About his production company Half Man Half Amazing Productions, Jonathan Boynton-Lee says that one of the challenges has been that he and Siv Ngesi have been so busy working on other productions that they haven't had as much time as they would want to have to focus on producing their own content yet.

"You know, we always get swept up in other people's shows! So it's a time thing," he says.

"We've got a movie in the works that we're developing and that's really exciting - a big, 'Tarantino dark comedy'-inspired type of film."

"Then we've got the travel show with KZN Tourism that we're working on, and then another show that revolves around fulfilling people's dreams - their bucket lists - so we have several exciting stuff in the works and we need to pick the right project to launch with," Jonathan says.

A new season of The Man Cave starts on M-Net (DStv 101), Saturday 20 February 2021 at 21:30.

INTERVIEW. Siv Ngesi on M-Net's Wingin It, traveling the world, dealing with jetlag, what he's learnt - and yes - those bum pics.

Sivuyile Ngesi is South African television's undisputed Energiser bunny - a TV presenter with a six pack and unrivaled energy that sees him going, going and going.

Besides his island adventures in the Seychelles in the 7th season of Tropika Island of Treasure that just concluded on TV screens, Siv Ngesi is also one half of the intrepid and hilariously funny bro-bro traveling duo in the Wingin' It travel show with Janez Vermeiren on M-Net (DStv 101).

I spoke with Siv Ngesi who shared more about his Wingin' It traveling experiences,  his bum pics, his "bromance" with Janez, how the show changed his perspective, the authenticity the cameras captured and why he now feel just a little bit lonely.

What has been one of the best experiences of doing Wingin' It?
Siv Ngesi: Going to Cuba was just an unbelievable experience, just being able to go to a city that literally looks like its from 1959 - the cars, the people, the mindset.
I wasn't ready and it was just a mind-blowing experience to experience how they're literally from 1959 - everything looks exactly how it was before.

What did you learn from Janez Vermeiren as your co-presenter as you both traveled the world?
Siv Ngesi: One thing I've learnt is that Janez is a lot more social than me. I'm quite a personal kind of a person, I like my own space.
So I've learnt to socialise a lot more. No. Not socialise. To try and socialise a lot more. And to try and to learn as much information about a city as possible. I'm a lot more about the experience and the people. So I think putting the two of us together for Wingin' It really was a great mix.

And what didn't you like?
Siv Ngesi: I love travelling. What I hate is the travelling. I wish I could just get to the destination without flying.

What travel tip do you have for viewers?
Siv Ngesi: Never forget your passport, your smile, your self-respect, an open mind and a toothbrush.

I'm wondering how did you deal with the jetlag, you went and filmed in so many places in a very short space of time?
Siv Ngesi: We sleep on the plane, we juggled it very well on our watches. We're very good at going: "Okay I need to sleep now, I need to sleep that way." Your body knows what you need and adapts.

How would you say Wingin' It is different from the other TV you've done before?
Siv Ngesi: I would as modest as possible say this is one of South African television's best shows I've ever seen; one of South African television's best shows I've ever been part of.
Janez and I are genuine friends; genuine brothers, who both genuinely love travel; who even if the cameras weren't there, would still be doing the exact same things we're doing on camera.
So the authenticity is real.

And the bum pics?
Siv Ngesi: Wherever I go in the world, I try and take a bum pic somewhere. And Janez and I started doing it and it actually started becoming popular online, so we just carried on doing it.

You've been well-traveled before you started doing Wingin' It, but how did doing this show further broaden your own perspective about life and people and the world?
Siv Ngesi: The experience of Wingin' It is more travelling than most humans do in such a short period of time - so having to adapt to so many cultures in such a short time.
I can see everyone in the crew has become better humans, better versions of themselves. For instance Janez is talking about things that he's never talked about before Wingin' It started.

Even me - there's certain things that I'm open-minded to that I wasn't open-minded to before. I didn't care about history and because I went to places that's very history-related, Janez got me into the history of a city.
The conversation we had about South Africa made me love South Africa even more. It's made me have a great perspective of the world.

Impulsive is probably the wrong word, but watching Wingin' It, you're almost the one who pushes to try the new things and Janez seems a little bit more the reserved one. Did that play off of each other just grow and develop organically?
Siv Ngesi: Janez and I are very, very very, very, very adventurous. Janez and I are very competitive with each other, so everything formulated very naturally.

I don't think Wingin' It the way we're doing it would work out with anyone else. If Janez couldn't do it, I wouldn't be able to do it with anyone else, and vice versa. The show works because of the people we are, the dynamics we have. You could have put us a public toilet and we would have found a way to compete to see who can pee the longest!

You obviously don't just do this, you're very much a multimedia-man. How much planning had to go into given the time away and travelling and your other media commitments and diary?
Siv Ngesi: Wingin' It became my wife. If it was time to go, we went.
For the last six months Wingin' It really owned my life. I have come back home now and I feel that life has just moved on past me, you know what I mean? Like people have moved on. And it seems a bit lonely without the travel, you know what I mean?
I went six months with having Janez and the crew with me every single moment of my life and now I have just me.

When you said yes to do Wingin' It on M-Net, what was you preconceived notion of what it would be, and what of that became true, and not?
Siv Ngesi: To be honest, I never thought travelling would be so tiring. I've done a lot of travelling, I've always traveled and rested you know?

Travelling is tiring. I think because I've traveled so much, Janez and I easily adapted to the experience. I don't think anyone can just do what we did. We did crazy things but it was really tiring and there were moments where you didn't want to do anything but you had to do something.
So when people always talk about "opening up the industry" I feel like telling people "come travel for 6 months and see if you can really do it".
Everything else was just the most amazing experience of my life. I'm still trying to reminisce and trying to think back on this great experience that was just utterly amazing.


Wingin' It is on Sundays on M-Net (DStv 101) at 17:00, repeated Mondays 15:30, Tuesdays 15:00.

Finale of 7th season of Tropika Island of Treasure on SABC3 rigged says viewers after unexpectd win by team Anga Makubalo and Bongs Ndima.

Despondent and shocked viewers are saying the 7th season finale of Tropika Island of Treasure broadcast Monday night on SABC3 is "rigged" after the team of Anga Makubalo (NaakMusiQ) and Bonginkosi Ndima unexpectedly won out over team Siv Ngesi and Khabonina Shabangu in an ugly-looking 12th episode that didn't deliver a pay-off on the narrative that was set out in the preceding 11 episodes.

While team Siv Ngesi and Khabonina Shabangu consistently showed the better team spirit, determination and bigger muscle and strategising brain power in the preceding 11 episodes, the finale of Clover's Tropika Island of Treasure  turned the expected narrative on its head in the 12th episode on Monday night.

Team Siv suddenly floundered, looked defeatist and unsure and uncertain, while Team Anga cruise to a victory that from a viewer perspective just didn't feel right.

Team Anga never won a single challenge during the duration of the season, yet emerged as the winner in the final challenge.

Although the finale of Tropika Island of Treasure fell flat - spectacularly so - the latest 7th season of the series was dramatically better and better produced as a reality show that what's it ever looked before on e.tv and SABC1.

On social media viewers slammed the show after they didn't get the outcome they wanted and that they feel they - and Siv Ngesi and Khabonina Shabangu - deserved, saying the show "showed us that while some work so bloody hard to succeed others easily get it off the plate".

"What nonsense bull just happened in the finale with that puzzle ... Team Siv deserved to win", "#TIOT7 looks rigged to me! Typical reality show ... has to end with an underdog victory" are just some of the comments people made on social media who were not impressed with the Tropika Island of Treasure finale.

Even comedian Donovan Goliath weighed in saying "Hmmmm something feels off. Rigged perhaps."

"#TIOT7 was rigged," said I Am Jeffrey. "Wow. 'Reality' TV. That seemed authentic. TV makers love to stage an underdog story," said Angel Campey.

"Hello SABC3, how do I delete a rigged episode of your kak show #TIOT7? You wasted my damn time," asked Ayesha.

Miantha Padayachee, Tropika brand manager told TVwithThinus in response to a media enquiry that "there are hundreds of thousands of viewers all of which are entitled to their own opinions". "We have built a loyal and passionate following during the 7th season. Favourite teams were selected by viewers and that was incredible to watch on social media every week. We are proud of season 7 and are looking forward to planning season 8."

There will be a Tropika Island of Treasure Reunion Special episode on Monday 19 June at 19:30 on SABC3.

The 7th season of Tropika Island of Treasure, although it had a very small audience following its flip from SABC1 to SABC3, was a ratings hit given the SABC3 demo, with episodes managing to rate high enough to secure spots on SABC3's most watched list in April and May.

This, together with the metric of strong social media engagement from viewers, makes an 8th season of Tropika Island of Treasure very likely.

Janez Vermeiren and Siv Ngesi co-presenting new M-Net travel show, Wingin' It, from 29 January; produced by Cheeky Media.

Janez Vermeiren and Siv Ngesi will co-present a new locally-made travel show, Wingin' It, produced by Vermeiren's production company Cheeky Media for M-Net, in which the two who are friends in real life, jet-set across the world to exotic locations without a pre-planned itinerary.

Wingin' It will start on M-Net (DStv 101) on Sunday 29 January at 17:00, spending 48 hours in places ranging from Baku, Ho Chi Minh City, Bogota, La Paz and Kathmandu to lesser-seen sides of Istanbul, Bangkok, Tokyo, Mexico City, Havana and Reunion Island.

I'm told there's 12 30-minute episodes of Wingin' It, with Janez Vermeiren and Siv Ngesi travelling together and both appearing in each episode.

As one of the most well-travelled South African TV presenters of the past decade, Janez Vermeiren, together with Siv Ngesi, have been visiting some far-flung international destinations the past few weeks - especially Asia and Southeast Asia - the social media snaps of which some media over the past month interpreted as the two being on vacation.

It's the first TV production from Janez Vermeiren's Cheeky Media for M-Net, and will be the first time that the double-dipper producer and presenter will be fronting as an M-Net face after he's been known to SABC audiences for years.

After leaving SABC3's Top Billing two and a half years ago in mid-2014 after he also co-presented three seasons of the spin-off travel show, Top Travel, Janez Vermeiren produced and appeared in the Edgars advertiser-funded production (AFP) She’s the One reality show for e.tv.

That was followed by a flurry of shows that Cheeky Media - co-owned by Janez Vermeiren and Yusuf Stevens - did for SABC3 that included five seasons of The Man Cave that Janez Vermeiren co-presented with Siv Ngesi and Lunga Shabalala, and the ongoing weekday afternoon talker Real Talk with Anele Mdoda.

As part of its now depleted budget to up its local content ratio to 80% on SABC3, the SABC this year also commissioned Cheeky Media to do the local travel show Biting About with Dene Botha and Bridget Pike, the Johannesburg restaurants review show Biting About that Janez Vermeiren co-presented with Amanda du-Pont, and Jou Ma se Chef presented by Siv Ngesi.

Siv Ngesi who had previously appeared on M-Net's 2010 local soccer drama League of Glory, and Mzansi Magic's S.I.E.S, became very good friends with Janez Vermeiren during the production of Man Cave over the past two years.

M-Net describes Wingin' It as "a fast-paced plunge into the world's most fascinating and eclectic destinations seen through the eyes of two diverse and intrisically competitive best buddies".

"These heartthrobs certainly don't visit the world's run-of-the-mill travel brochure type of hot spots and tourist attractions," says Lani Lombard, M-Net's head of publicity.

"They land in cities you might never have thought of exploring, or even heard of, but which may just, after you've seen their mischievous adventures, end up on your bucket list. It's a great fun-filled show that will put a smile on your face - and awaken the explorer in you".

Other January local programming highlights on M-Net include the start of the second season of Sarah Graham's Food Safari on Monday 9 January at 18:00, and the second season of The Voice South Africa starting on Sunday 29 January at 17:30.

The 101 starting on Sunday 29 January at 16:30 will be a new weekly "TV guide show" to help viewers find new programmes and be informed about schedule changes across M-Net's channels on DStv.

Clover revives Tropika Island of Treasure for a 7th season as the advertiser-funded show jumps from SABC1 to SABC3; returns celebrity contestants.

The Island of Treasure advertiser-funded show is returning for a 7^th season and is now looking for contestants as its switches from SABC1 to SABC3.

The show, known for its bad production values over the years, reached its bottom with the 5^th season in February 2013 when the SABC and Clover went ahead with the tasteless broadcast starting two days after Reeva Steenkamp who was a celebrity contestant in the show, was brutally shot and killed by the paralympic athlete, Oscar Pistorius.

A forgettable and very badly done 6^th season followed that had no celebrities. 

Now the brand campaign show is trying again, switching away from SABC1 to SABC3's more upmarket audience, returning celebrities who will take part with members of the public, upping the production values with a new production company, adding creative changes and increasing the season episode order to 13.

I requested publicity and marketing images from the Clover produced show but days later after the PR company told me there isn't any and will send when they're available, basically what there appear to be available is the show logo for the upcoming Seychelles season.

Minnie Dlamini will be the presenter of the new 7^th season of Tropika Island of Treasure set to be filmed in October in the Seychelles, with Top Billing presenter Jonathan Boynton-Lee in a new role as the "Games Master" who will encourage and talk the various teams through the challenges that will include physical and mental puzzles.

The celebrity contestants for the 7^th season include Siv Ngesi, Zakeeya Patel, Maurice Paige, Karlien van Jaarsveld, EmTee, Anga Makubalo and Jessica Nkosi.

"We are so excited about the new season of Tropika Island of Treasure Seychelles," says Miantha Padayachee, brand group manager for Tropika.

People have to buy the fruit juice between July and September for the packaging barcode in order to be able to enter, and indicate what celebrity they want to team up with.

After that the celebrity contestants will choose the member of the public they want to try and win the competition with, as the seven different teams compete against each other in the Seychelles.

BREAKING. Another SABC3 schedule shake-up: channel rejigs primetime yet again from June as High Rollers is turned into a telenovela.

Yet another dramatic schedule shake-up is coming to the SABC's problem child channel, SABC3, to try and boost ratings for the public broadcaster's only commercial TV channel.

From June programming currently seen at 19:30 is moving half an hour later, while shows like stalwart Top Billing moves earlier. The former hour long drama High Rollers is also returning but is now being turned into a three day a week telenovela at 19:30, with half hour episodes set for Mondays to Wednesdays from 29 June.

SABC3's ratings has remained under pressure and several dramatic schedule changes the past two years have failed to move the viewership needle significantly.

June will see an influx of several new shows on SABC3 - the 8th season of Strictly Come Dancing South Africa, a 2nd season of the comedy Those Who Can't and a new season of the reality show Charly's Cake Angels.

The Cape Town based reality show produced by Cooked in Africa and set in the famous Charly's Bakery saw a first season in a bad afternoon timeslot after which a second season was shown on DStv's Food Network.

Charly's Cake Angels, which got critical praise, has been added back to the schedule and will now be moved to primetime at 21:00 on SABC3 from 18 June for a new season.

Meanwhile American dramas currently at 19:30 will move to 20:30 like the Monday comedies and series like Common Law, The Good Wife and Hostages.

The 21st season of The Amazing Race will start on SABC3 on 6 July at 20:30.

The 8th season of Strictly Come Dancing SA, produced by Rapid Blue, will start on 5 June at 19:30. The dance reality format show will no longer have an additional eviction show on Saturdays but will now eliminate contestants on the Friday programme to try and lift ratings, keep social media abuzz and viewers tuned in for longer as event television.

From 18 June the Tswelopele Productions produced Top Billing which has weathered many channel and timeslot changes over decades is moving yet again (God bless) to 19:30.

It will be followed by the second season of Man Cave, the Janez Vermeiren produced Cheeky Media magazine show geared towards a young male audience and which will see comedian Siv Ngesi joining the existing Lunga Shabalala and Janez Vermeiren as presenters.

The gambling drama High Rollers is turned into a telenovela as SABC3 jumps on the Uzalo, Ashes to Ashes and Isibaya local telenovela bandwagon.

The former hour long drama will be broadcast three times a week at 19:30 and cut down to half hour episodes like a soapie, revolving around three "brothers" - casino kingpin David, his flawed older brother Paul, and David's right-hand man Thato Mogale.

High Rollers will get a mid-morning repeat on SABC3 at 10:30

The local comedy set in the staff room of an elite private school, Those Who Can't will return for a second season on 29 June at 20:00.

While a woman would have been added to SABC3's recently launched new weekday afternoon variety magazine and talk show Afternoon Express which got a lukewarm reception from viewers and critics, it now looks as if one of the male contestants of the Presenter Search on 3 will be added to the trio of Bonang Matheba, Jeannie D and Bonnie Mbuli to try and lift ratings.

Two other contestants of the Presenter Search on 3 will join SABC3's breakfast show Expresso and Top Billing respectively.