Celebrity – Phindile Grootboom
Dreaming big has no sell-by date —Widowed host and first-time TV presenter, Phindile Grootboom, is living proof of this!
Widowed is…a true and untold South African story of women who lost their husbands, and haven’t had the opportunity to talk about this painful chapter of their lives. Most of them have been harbouring certain feelings and have no-one to communicate them to. It’s a story of healing, and one that also aims to reconcile families.
Filming the show…opened me up to a world that I knew existed, but whose intricacies I didn’t quite understand. Each episode opened my eyes to new lessons and awoke character traits in me that I didn’t know I had.
Biggest lesson I learnt from hosting Widowed…was that if you’ve never lost a loved one, you’ll never quite understand how far-reaching grief is. The show has taught me not only to be sensitive to the person in mourning, but to also not distance myself from them. A common thread in almost all the stories of the widows we interviewed was that they felt alone, misunderstood and, sometimes, neglected. We normally think that giving those in mourning space to heal is the best thing to do, when in fact, it’s the worst. It’s a period when they could really do with being surrounded by love, comfort and support. I was initially sceptical of presenting the Widowed because...In my line of work as a relationship coach, I’d grown accustomed to working with both spouses while they were still alive and married — I was now being tasked with telling a different side to this story. The fact that it hadn’t been told also made me a tad nervous. After thinking it through, I figured, ‘who else would tell the story better than me?’ In the end, I felt that I was the best person to relay it because I’d long been on the rosier side of things. Outside of TV…I’m a mom, first and foremost. I’m a wife to a great man, Mo Grootboom, as well as an entrepreneur. My husband and I just recently got into television content producing. I’ve worked in advertising as head of regional sales for four radio stations – East Coast Radio, Vuma103 FM, POWER 987, and Capricorn FM – for the past 14 years. My last corporate gig earlier this year, was a Sub-Saharan Africa sales manager position for a UK-based broadcasting company. Relationship coaching came about as a result of…friends and family approaching my husband and I to help them resolve their relationship troubles. We started getting requests more often than we had anticipated. Out of wanting to see love win and others’ relationships succeed, we would happily oblige and assist. Hearing how some of the advice we shared helped restore people’s love was very affirming. When the
epiphany to turn this into a professional coaching service hit us, we knew we were on a very fulfilling path as couple. Doors started opening soon after we’d penned our first book, Love Isn’t For Cowards.
Working so closely with my partner is…the best feeling ever. It was slightly difficult in the beginning because we’re both strong-willed. Coaching comes naturally to us, and doesn’t feel like a job, at all. We enjoy it and more so, I love that we get to spend more time together.
The most underused tactic in relationship is…communication, as clichéd as it sounds. It’s no wonder that it’s often cited as one of the top five reasons why couples divorce. We always advise couples to address things as they happen. We’ve noticed that often when people reach boiling point and opt to divorce, it’s a result of an explosion of bottled-up emotions. Marriage is an institution that one must go into fully knowing what they are signing up for. There’s a certain level of maturity required to survive marriage. Prior to Widowed…the only TV work I’d done was taking part in season 1 of the MNet reality TV show, Power Couples. This is my first-ever presenting gig. TV is not for the faint-hearted. I honestly have a newfound respect for people who work in TV full-time. We’d shoot the entire day, only for something to be edited down to a few minutes [chuckles]. People see the final product and think it’s all glamorous, when in fact, the team goes through the absolute most to make each episode a success.
If I could live elsewhere in the world it would be…South Africa. It’s honestly one of the best countries in the world. However, given a chance I’d be on vacation every day, but still keep my home in SA [chuckles].
My children are…the reason I wake up daily and make things work. They’re the reason I haven’t given up in life. They’re my reason for finding hope each day. When I look at them, I know I could never let them down. They truly light up my life! London really sets my soul alight. The architecture is out of this world and the infrastructure fascinates me.
No matter how old you are, you can still dream big. I have learnt that dreams can materialise at any point in one’s life — there will be that one thing that God sets aside for you. I turned 43 in May, and it dawned on me that I only started getting most of my big breaks in my 40s. Now I know that every little thing that I experienced in my past careers was in preparation for this turning point. Television is definitely where I want to retire — it’s my latest fascination. •