LET SECRETS COME OUT
Khanyi Mbau wants you to reveal your big secret to the world on her new show. BUHLE MBONAMBI spoke to her
KHANYI Mbau has lived her life publicly for over a decade. She has been the proverbial open book, one of the famous people we almost know everything about.
From her childhood, her relationships, flashy lifestyle and subsequent downfall; to finally changing her image from party girl to one of the entertainment industry’s hardest working personalities.
It feels like we know her so well, that she has no secrets we don’t know of. Or so we think.
Khanyi’s career rejig has been interesting to note. Not only did she move from being a tabloid fixture, she made savvy moves that have catapulted her to being one of the biggest celebrities in the country. She is serious about her acting, as is evident in her scene stealing role on Happiness Is a Four Letter
Word; she became a TV presenter and also gave radio a chance. After presenting SABC3’s The
Scoop, a celeb-gossip style show in the vein of E!’s The Soup, she’s done a 180 as host of BET Africa’s new show, The Big Secret. An actuality series, Khanyi hosts the show and is the bridge between people who tell their loved ones their big secret, on the show.
Do you think you’re the best person to host this show, especially since the public know a lot about you?
Yes, I do think that I am the best to do so. Because people find me to be an open book and it is always easier to talk to someone who is an open book.
Does that unnerve you at times that people know things about you, even things you had hoped to keep secret?
No, it doesn’t at all; there is a saying that, “once all your secrets are out you have nothing to hide”.
But as much as we know a lot, we also don’t know everything about you. Have you been able to keep something about yourself so secret, that not even your publicist or manager knows about it?
There are plenty of things that people do not know about me – everything people know are things I have allowed them to know.
It takes a lot to reveal a secret to your loved ones at home, but doing it on TV requires plenty of guts. Why do you think people feel like they need an audience while telling their loved ones a secret?
Once people have taken the route of revealing their secrets on TV, they want to show the people they are revealing their secrets to, how serious they are. They are trying to show that they would go as far as getting a TV crew and open up to the whole country, hoping that their recipient will accept it and see how far they have taken things just to reveal their secrets.
Have there been instances where participants on the show ended up wishing they had kept their secret to themselves?
Yes, it does get to that point where they do not want to reveal their secrets anymore, especially when it is the moment where they have to reveal it to the recipients.
South Africa is a dramatic country and we have some reality drama shows about relationships. So in the hierarchy of shows like Nyan Nyan, uTatakho and Please Step In, where does The Big Secret lie?
The Big Secret lies in the space where it is a think piece; it is edutainment and emo-tainment as well. We have created a dialogue of introspection; as much as uTatakho is more of discovering love and finding belonging, this show is a think-piece; it is about people creating a dialogue and moving closer to self-value and self-love because people need to first love themselves and that is what is different.
People are trying to show that they would go as far as getting a TV crew and open up to the country
I’m assuming there will be tears, but will people fight?
There have been a lot of tears and yes, people fight.
Let’s say you had a celebrity edition of The Big Secret – who would you love to have on the show, revealing their big secret to the world?
Celebrities have a lot of secrets. I think it would be very difficult to get them on to the show because most celebrities in the country are very conscious about their image.
The Big Secret airs on BET (Channel 129), on Wednesday at 9.30am.