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WHAT IT’S ABOUT:
Catch Bonang Matheba, the businesswoman and media personality as she gives South Africans a captivating glimpse into her life.
WHAT WE THOUGHT:
Despite telling her fans at the end of season one that her reality show was a once off thing Bonang Matheba surprised everyone when she announced in April that her show would be back for a second season.
When it comes to South African celebrities Bonang is a local A-lister so it is no surprise that her show was renewed.
Episode one starts off rather abruptly. I wish there was a bit of recap of what went down in the previous season just to jog the memory.
We first see Bonang at her home in Sandton where she has a visit from her dad. He stopped by to discuss an unveiling of a tombstone ceremony.
From there she’s off to Pretoria to attend Tebogo “Pinky Girl” Mekgwe’s 30th birthday party. It’s hard not to the miss the differences between her and Bonang’s parties. Pinky Girl’s was a low key affair with close friends and family.
Right after that Bonang’s at a cover shoot for True Love magazine where she teases a big reunion with someone. I was holding my breath, could it be Somizi?
But alas it is her former personal assistant Sefisio Hlongwane who quit last year. He fills Bonang in on the horrific hijacking which landed him in the ICU. At the end of their meeting I’m not quite sure if he is back as her PA full-time.
In the last few minutes of the episode Bonang meets up with her ballerina BFF Lorna Maseko for lunch where she finally talks about her breakup with AKA, well kinda.
She doesn’t go into much detail about why they broke up but does reveal that she "locked herself in" and cried for days.
For me it is really hard to connect with her as a person as she comes across very rehearsed in all her interactions.
While Bonang has opened up her life to the camera I feel like the episode was just too edited and polished. It feels like this is just her life in front of the cameras and not her real life.
There was also just too much going on in the episode. I get that it only runs for 30 minutes but it felt like a rollercoaster ride and not the fun, enjoyable kind.
The production itself cannot be faulted as it is beautifully shot.
I had hoped that Bonang would actually show a bit more of her true self but from the looks of episode one it’s still all about the champagne lifestyle and keeping up with appearances.
Who knows maybe she'll surprise me as the season unfolds.
Catch Being Bonang Fridays at 19:30 on 1Magic (DStv 103)
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