Carte Blanche exposes Real Housewives of Pretoria Mel Viljoen's alleged Tammy Taylor 'Made in the USA' fake products.

by Thinus Ferreira

The Real Housewives of Pretoria cast member Mel Viljoen and her husband Peet Viljoen is once again embroiled in scandal following another Carte Blanche investigative exposé tracking down and revealing how her Tammy Taylor SA business is allegedly printing fake "Made in the USA" Tammy Taylor labels in South Africa added to imported bottles and jars, allegedly filled with generic beauty products bought in bulk elsewhere.

On Sunday night the investigative magazine show Carte Blanche on M-Net (DStv 101) did a follow-up to its 2020 and 2021 reports on Tammy Taylor SA, this time talking to people who claimed and explained how they're allegedly being swindled out of millions of rand and their businesses after acquiring a Tammy Taylor franchise.

Carte Blanche also reported on how Tammy Taylor SA is allegedly selling and passing off fake "Made in the USA" rebranded Tammy Taylor products in imported bottles and jars, with labels printed in South Africa which are allegedly filled with generic beauty products bought in Europe. 

Tammy Taylor is run by Melany Viljoen and her disbarred lawyer husband Peet Viljoen, who appears in the new Afrikaans spinoff of NBCUniversal's The Real Housewives reality show franchise, Die Real Housewives of Pretoria on kykNET (DStv 144).

Carte Blanche's Sunday night exposé tracked down two of the companies in Midrand and Pretoria who confirmed that they have printed product labels and bottles for Tammy Taylor SA that look like Tammy Taylor in America, containing the words "Made in the USA", after Tammy Taylor Nails in California in the United States cancelled the Master Licence Agreement. 

Tammy Taylor Nails Incorporated, a company registered in the United States, stopped supplying Tammy Taylor SA with products in April. Since the Master Licence Agreement was cancelled, Carte Blanche reported that the Viljoens have no right to use the Tammy Taylor brand name.

"Basically what we do is, they send us the artwork and we print directly onto the bottles," one of the printers told Carte Blanche presenter Masa Kekana. The counterfeit bottles contain the details of Tammy Taylor Nails, Inc.

A businesswoman Happy Simelane, explained and showed Carte Blanche how she paid R2.8 million in cash to become a franchisee for a Tammy Taylor Menlyn Maine franchise store in Pretoria in July 2021 but was never even given the keys to her store by Tammy Taylor SA.

"I was never given access to the bank account, or even have a key to say 'Happy this is your store," Happy Simelane explained. 

Mel Viljoen in a written response to Carte Blanche stated that "We have not done or taken anything that Happy did not agree to in writing. Sadly Happy did not honor her agreement with the brand. Happy Simelane were given ampule time to remedy her breach." (sic)

After Peet Viljoen in Instagram messages during the past week slammed Carte Blanche for its latest reporting, Carte Blanche in a statement told TVwithThinus that "Carte Blanche rejects the allegations made publicly by the Viljoens and stands by its story".

NBCUniversal and MultiChoice expand Real Housewives reality format for Africa with The Real Housewives of Pretoria and The Real Housewives of Nairobi.

by Thinus Ferreira

NBCUniversal and MultiChoice are expanding their collaboration further with more African versions of The Real Housewives formats and will add The Real Housewives of Pretoria and one for Kenya which will be called The Real Housewives of Nairobi.

Filming has now started on The Real Housewives of Pretoria, produced by Provoco, making the new 14-episode reality series the 4th South African version. 

This version will be done in Afrikaans for M-Net's Afrikaans kykNET (DStv 144) channel under the title of Die Real Housewives van Pretoria (RHOP) and will broadcast on the channel from 13 October 2022 and will also be available on Showmax.

kykNET didn't respond to a media query requiring about the Afrikaans title and when it would be shown.

M-Net's Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) channel, MultiChoice's video streaming service Showmax and NBCUniversal Formats have so far collaborated on The Real Housewives of Johannesburg, The Real Housewives of Durban and The Real Housewives of Cape Town of which the first season just concluded.

Next month filming will start on The Real Housewives of Nairobi done by the Young Rich Television production company, with DStv subscribers in East Africa getting their first version set in Kenya, following The Real Housewives of Lagos which made its debut on Showmax in Nigeria earlier this year.

"We are so proud to build on the continued success of The Real Housewives franchises across Africa," says Ana Langenberg, senior vice president for format sales and productions at NBCUniversal Formats.

"The way each version faithfully embodies the spirit of the city, people and rich cultures it showcases, connects with audiences across the region and the diaspora."

Nomsa Philiso, MultiChoice's head of programming, says "As a platform that provides content on both linear and over-the-top (OTT), The Real Housewives franchise is proving to be very popular with our diverse audiences".

'This has allowed us to continuously expand and increase to different territories as we operate across Africa. Our latest offering, The Real Housewives of Cape Town, broadcasting on Mzansi Magic, has exceeded our expectations in viewership numbers, and we are excited to bring more adaptations."

"This may be a global franchise, but our spin is authentically African. As a broadcaster, keeping up with our viewers' tastes and preferences is important, and The Real Housewives franchise meets our audience's needs."