PURE REALITY
‘Wedding Bashers’ get new judges
A COOKBOOK author and a former Miss South Africa have been slotted in as the two new judges in the second season of The Wedding Bashers, which starts on M-Net at 6pm on Sunday.
Celebrity chef Zola Nene and Miss SA 1995 Bernelee Daniell will fill the chic shoes of international TV chef Siba Mtongana and another former Miss SA, Cindy Nell, because the stars had clashing schedules.
The newbies on the reality wedding show join wedding planner Zavion Kotze and Vuzu star and irrepressible party girl Denise Zimba in a celebration of love and stylish nuptials.
The Daily Dispatch attended the glamorous launch in the Limpopo bush this week to meet the “bashers” and get the latest scoop on the show’s new format.
This season, instead of simply picking apart the components of couples’ wedding days, the foursome will also be concocting magical bigbudget weddings for four “couples in need”.
Starting this Sunday, there will be four episodes of “giving back” in which the bashers combine their skills to give these couples a free wedding of their dreams.
Once they have aired, the show will revert to its normal format with the judges rating ordinary South African couples’ wedding on their style, food and atmosphere in 17 fun new episodes.
Executive producer Gavin Wratten, who described the show as “unashamedly honest”, said the idea for the “give back” episodes came from Season 1 winners who mentioned they intended to give some of their prize money to friends who wanted to tie the knot but were reeling from the deaths of several family members in the past few years.
The sneak media preview centers on the couple’s friends briefing the bashers about their sometimes bewildering preferences resulting in a gorgeous forest wedding complete with 1 000 imported tulips, rose gold accents and a prawn and espetada (Portuguese skewers) feast.
Episodes to follow will feature a couple faced with their child’s mounting hospital bills, a couple whose new home went up in flames in the devastating Knysna fires and a duo from a tough neighbourhood.
“I love a wedding, so when I was called I said ‘I’m in’,” said larger-thanlife celebrity chef Nene, who has a naturally amusing screen presence.
Nene said she enjoyed starting her season with the giving back episodes, despite their demanding workloads because they showed off the bashers’ skills.
“When I was asked to do the show I straightaway said yes, although I thought I was agreeing to do Idols – and I can’t sing,” quipped Daniell, whose empathic warmth was palpable in the preview.
“I cried at every wedding,” she said. — barbarah@dispatch.co.za