It’s always a Beautiful Day for Minnie

Over mimosas, Minnie Dlamini-Jones talks to Helen Herimbi about running her race and winning 2017

2017 was a win, with Supersport, ‘Homeground’, ‘Becoming Mrs Jones’ – and getting married

‘IDON’T really get Champagne hangovers,” Minnie Dlamini-Jones (pictured) laughs and then purses her lips. “The best trick for a hangover is just whining to my husband and making him fix me. Just get yourself a husband and you’ll be fine,” she teases.

Even though it’s not yet open to the public for the day, we’re sitting at the chic Gemelli restaurant in Gauteng. The waiter brings over orange juice carafes and the Homeground (on Supersport) presenter is pleased the juice has been strained of pulp to her liking. That’s not the only thing she is pleased about. This month, the sports presenter and actress was announced as the GH Mumm Master of Celebrations.

“I’ve celebrated my biggest achievements, accomplishments and moments with Mumm,” she tells me.

“My wedding – they were front and centre there. They sponsored my bachelorette (in Paris) and that was amazing. Mumm was there for the launch of my partnership with Jenna Clifford on my Passion Pendant necklace.

“Of course they have all their calender events for the year – kicking off with the Met, which I cannot wait for – and I am going to be the celebrity face at the forefront of all of that, hosting these celebrations.”

The former high school athlete will be joined by Mumm’s chief entertainment officer, Usain Bolt, and she will, of course, be wearing Gert-Johan Coetzee.

Last year, Dlamini-Jones amplified her brand from being in front of the camera to starring in and producing (through her A Beautiful Day company) a mini-series, Becoming Mrs Jones. It chronicled the journey to her wedding day. After airing just one episode of the three-part series, Becoming Mrs Jones became the highest rated show in Vuzu Amp history. I ask her where she was when she found out.

“I was watching the final cut of episode three and I saw a post on Vuzu’s social media. Then I called my commissioning editor and he was like: ‘You did it! Congratulations.’

“The show was one of the riskiest things I’ve ever done and, really, the most bare I’ve ever been. I came up with this crazy idea and no one was for it,” she giggles. “This was the first time I was saying: I need you guys to be on this journey with me. My brothers hated it!”

Her siblings may shy away from the limelight, but Dlamini-Jones was always drawn to the stage. “I’m a geek for theatre. I have a theatre background – that’s what I’m trained to do.

“I grew up doing musical theatre from a very young age. I had my first professional performance when I was 16. I played Evillene in The Wiz at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre – that was probably when I knew that’s what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. If I could be stuck in a theatre for the rest of my career, that’s what I would do.”

She reflects on the best production she’s ever seen – The Lion King.

“It was my 17th birthday and my parents had gotten so broke. We were quarter-to-losing the house. Things were bad and my mother was like: ‘There’s no money for Lion King.’

“I don’t know what my parents did – God bless them – but they pulled a rabbit out of a hat and we stayed at Montecasino and we got to see the show. I had front row seats.”

Dlamini-Jones, who has had roles on The Wild and Rockville, has plans to get back into acting. “Eventually,” she tells me. “I really, really want to make a film. That’s the end goal with A Beautiful Day.” And her film aspirations were almost in her grasp last year.

“The saddest thing is I actually landed a film role. It was the lead character in a beautiful story and it happened immediately after my wedding. It just meant that I was going to be away for a month, I was dealing with some nonsense as well and it just didn’t allow me to do it.”

I ask her who took her spot and she exclaims: “One of my favourite people on this planet: Thando Thabethe!”

The film is called Love Lives Here and Dlamini-Jones says she’s already seen snippets that look “amazing”. She’s not bitter about choosing to put time with her new family first though.

Throughout the interview, Dlamini-Jones touches her wedding ring and pushes it up and down her finger. “It’s because it’s still so new, I’m getting used to it,” she smiles.

In keeping with Mumm’s “dare, win, celebrate” tag, Dlamini-Jones told me about instances that represented those three. The win is most illuminating one of her experiences. “A win for me was 2017,” she smiles. “Without blowing smoke up my own ass, I think 2017 was a really good year for me because it started with my Supersport announcement, carried on with Homeground, then the announcement of Becoming Mrs Jones, my traditional wedding, my white wedding, actually becoming Mrs Jones and I ended the year with some incredible partnerships.”

As for what 2018 has in store, Dlamini-Jones is staying Mumm but I’d guess that she’ll be raising her glass a lot.

The Sun Met, celebrated with Mumm, is on January 27 at the Kenilworth Race Course in Cape Town.