‘Idols’ star back on stage despite overdue baby
Trying to put ex-boyfriend’s crime behind her
LIFE has been a rollercoaster ride for Idols South Africa 2005 winner Karin Kortje.
From being an apple-picker in Grabouw in the Western Cape she soared to stardom, wowing Idols judges and viewers with her massive voice.
But her life took a horrifying turn. In 2006, Kortje and her boyfriend, Cheslyn Williams, were staying in a Durbanville guest house while she was filming a commercial. Williams robbed and murdered the owner, Renate Kellerman, and was jailed for life.
Now Kortje is getting back on top: she opened for Canadian R&B singer Tamia at her Cape Town show last month.
Few of the fans there would have realised that Kortje was belting out tunes only days after giving birth to her fourth son.
Having carried baby Joshua Tyrone Nicholas Aspeling past his due date, her participation in the show was touch and go.
She was due to give birth two weeks before the event.
“And I made a promise to the organisers: I said I will be ready. And my God, was I stressed out because I was a week overdue.”
It all worked out in the end and Kortje performed at the sold-out Grand West Arena.
Although she was not completely happy with her performance, she says the response from the crowd was “amazing”.
Despite Kortje going through
I've made peace with whatever happened. I know what I want and I'm going after it
personal tribulations so publicly, she has a loyal fan base.
“Stuff happens in your life and maybe sometimes you think that if that didn’t happen, maybe I would have been a bit further. But I’ve made peace with whatever happened and I’m just looking forward.
“I’m still human, but I’m more focused now. I know what I want and I’m going after it. I’ve made peace just so that I can move forward, because I’ve got all these ghosts from my past.
“So I had to let go of a lot of stuff so I can heal at the end of the day,” she said.
A big step on her journey was contacting the family of the murdered Kellerman, who had two children.
“It took me almost five years to get the courage to pick up the phone and call them.
“Those kids are growing up, and I thought one day: What if they come to Cape Town and we accidentally bump into each other?
“They would know it’s me, but would I know it’s them? What would I say to them? I couldn’t live with myself. I felt partly to blame for what happened,” she said.
Kortje said she met the family and spent a “tearful afternoon” with them, but she did not want to say more.
After a stint in Johannesburg, Kortje moved back to Cape Town to be closer to her family — and met “the man of my dreams”.
She and Shaundore Aspeling tied the knot in 2009. She says they are “still in love”.
Although she wants to concentrate on her baby and her three other sons, aged 12, five and four, she says work is still important.
Kortje intends to keep working on her regular local and corporate gigs, as well as her touring shows, such as a Whitney Houston tribute concert.
She has also recorded two new tracks — both cover versions — but would not elaborate because the process was not complete.
“I am happy. I got my big family that I always wanted.”
The 10th season of Idols South Africa will start airing in July.