Little change
Dintle’s priorities shift from bling and big bucks to baby, baby, baby!
Scandal! Weekdays e.tv (*194) 19:30
Last year in September, viewers had a good laugh with Mapaseka Koetle about the possibility of Dintle being a mom. “I doubt she will be a good mother… unless maybe she finds Jesus,” she told tvplus at the time. Mapaseka pointed out that in 2013, Dintle gave up her baby Motshabi to Tino and Erin (Clint Brink and Lorcia Cooper) “and she hasn’t been asking about where that baby is”. And while Dintle is known for being full of surprises, we could never have predicted how her new baby daughter is changing her now…
NEW BABY, NEW DINTLE
“Viewers will get to see that Dintle is a mother now and it’s not like, ‘Oh, I want to get rid of this baby so I can live my life.’ There’s a huge change,” reveals Mapaseka. “She is calm now. She thinks of other people, she’s not as selfish as she was. I think even Layla (Natasha Sutherland) sees that. People will see a different side of her. She’s not completely changed; she’s not a young Maletsatsi (Joyce Skefu),” laughs Mapaseka. “But she is just calm and she’s selfless.” As a new mom herself (Mapaseka’s baby daughter was born in September 2016), the actress adores playing this new side to her character. “Even though we’re different, it’s so nice because her and I are in the same boat because we are so in love with our baby girls.”
IT’S BECAUSE OF LOVE
But while Dintle is over the moon about her bundle of joy, the new baby comes at a terrible price – heartbreak and homelessness. On Friday 3 March, Dintle suddenly finds herself booted out onto the street with her baby when her husband Mangi (Kagiso Modupe), draws the line at raising another man’s child. “It’s not even about her not having a place to stay at this moment. It’s about the way she leaves because of her lies and the man she loves kicks her out. People will see that she does have a heart because she’s crying and not thinking about the money anymore. You know when something is raw? She’s just bare. You can see it. It’s the first time we see her display her feelings like that.”
NEVER HELPLESS
With a baby to take care of though, Dintle quickly dries her own tears and makes a plan – goodbye husband, hello babydaddy! “She’s a fighter and doesn’t waste time. She goes straight to the penthouse with her bags and her baby to tell Quinton (Brighton Ngoma), ‘You know what? Mangi kicked me out, so we are here’.” In a way, it will make things easier for Quinton, who’s really wary of throwing child support money her way in case it becomes fancy dress support money. As for how Quinton’s going to account for his new guests, well, that’s on him. We’ll be watching the babydaddy taking on his family and the public this fortnight with eager, hand-rubbing curiosity.
NOT THE FAMILY SHE WANTS
Dintle is delighted to find herself back at the heart of the Nyathi family. “She doesn’t have to ask for anything, she doesn’t have to manipulate anyone to get what she wants. She has the power now and the power is the baby. As long as the baby is around, Dintle is back,” says Mapaseka. But Dintle is strangely unsatisfied. “She’s happy that obviously Quinton has money, so she’s at least assured that her baby will be taken care of. But she always wanted to stay in the penthouse with Mangi, not with Quinton,” explains Mapaseka. “This is the first time that the viewers will actually see that Dintle has a heart and she really, really loves Mangi. She moves into the penthouse and drama starts…” That drama will include a delightfully Dintle-style spark of mischief as one close family member tries to bribe her to leave town!