Swallowing your pride
Season 2 of comedy series Bob Hearts Abishola sees the mismatched couple deal with drama: Abi’s rude husband.
Bob Hearts Abishola
Season 2 Thursdays (from 20 May) 1Magic (*103) 18:00
Love will make you do crazy things but there are one or two hurdles that are a little more daunting than the rest. In romcom series Bob Hearts Abishola (2019-now), that mountain that needs climbing is Abishola’s (Folake Olowofoyeku, Frida in action movie Armed, 2018) marriage. “She is married on paper only,” explains the actress. “She doesn’t care for her husband back in Nigeria. They have a child together and the solution (divorce) is simple to her new fiancé Bob (Billy Gardell, Herschel Sparks in comedy series Young Sheldon, 2017-now).” But legal separation is a whole other story for the hard-working nurse, who wants to marry Bob but the fact that she’s still a Mrs becomes the theme of season 2.
HUSBAND HORROR-SHOW
Bob Hearts Abishola plays on stereotypes and Folake, who was born in Nigeria and goes home every year to visit her family, says that “we go out of our way to make Western things, like divorce, seem outlandish. It’s not something that should ever be taken lightly, and we use the ‘Africa does things her
own way’ to make it seem like getting a separation is difficult.”
In season 1, viewers only heard about Abishola’s difficult businessman husband Tayo (Nigerian-born Canadian actor Dayo Ade, Mel Boyd in dramedy series Workin’ Moms, 2017-now), now we’re going to see him. And he’s every bit the jerk Abishola has made him out to be. “Oh, Tayo is a total ego maniac and narcissist. He thinks about himself first, second and third. If Tayo treats you well and like a friend, chances are that he is after something from you,” explains Dayo, whose character gets alarm bells ringing when Abishola’s bestie Kemi (Gina Yashere, Gina in comedy series Crashing, 2017) comes screaming through the hospital in episode 1 and tells Abi that her cousin (offscreen) in Nigeria called her to tell her that Tayo was at the market buying fish. “It’s this ridiculous story of connecting the dots,” explains Folake. “Tayo buys fish, nothing out of the ordinary. But the fact that he has it doublewrapped tells Abishola that Tayo wants to keep it fresh, which means a trip to the US, because he wants to speak to Abi’s aunt and uncle and he will use the traditionally prepared fish to butter them up, and take Abi and their son Dele (Travis Wolfe Jr, Lil Lo Lo in comedy series Raven’s Home, 2017-now) back to Nigeria to be a family again.”
ADMIN, ADMIN, ADMIN
Abishola makes it clear that she has no intention of a relationship with Tayo, but he isn’t listening. And that upsets Bob, who despite his fiancée’s request, confronts Tayo to clear the air. “This is a strange situation because Abishola is making excuses about the paperwork and how it will take forever and that it isn’t something Nigerians do, but that means that Tayo is still her husband and Bob and Abishola can’t marry, which is what Bob desperately wants,” says Billy.
But it comes from a good place and while he doesn’t understand Nigerian tradition and culture, Bob’s constant pushing and questioning Abishola makes her realise that he is right: she needs to stand up for herself, not worry about what her family back home think and split from Tayo, whether he wants to or not. “There’s a point where you can see her realise that Bob is right.
It’s on her face and you see the change when she says, ‘No, I’m not going to let this man (Tayo) control me’,” explains Folake. Especially because it was Tayo who walked out on Abishola and Dele, leaving them to struggle in their new home without support despite his wealth back home in Nigeria.
This is a theme that carries across cultures and has no borders, says Folake. “There are so many instances where a spouse feels almost bad if they want a divorce when the reality is that they’re living separate lives already and divorce is just signing documents to undo their marriage.” Smooth-talking Tayo may think he’s got the upperhand, but he’s going to see how much his soon-to-beex-wife has grown in his absence.
MasterChef Australia
Season 13 Weekdays (from Tuesday 1 June) M-Net (*101) 18:00
Food reality show MasterChef Australia (2009-now) served up such a smorgasbord of tasty kitchen treats with season 12 that DStv has rushed to plate up season 13 while it’s still airing Down Under. And for good reason, says judge and professional chef Jock Zonfrillo. “I was staggered by the talent as a first-time judge in season 12. I had watched the series to get some idea of what I was getting into, but nothing could have prepared me when I was here in front of the contestants. When the producers asked if I wanted to come back, they couldn’t have handed me the pen fast enough to sign the contract.” Jock is back with his co-judges – food critic and author Melissa Leong and Andy Allen, who won season 4 of the show in 2012 – and they’re famished!
OUT OF THE FRYING PAN…
When the show was renewed for this season, producers considered doing an All Stars season with former winners and contestants from previous seasons, but Melissa is glad that they changed their minds and went for new talent and a normal season. “Maybe it would have been nice to bring back old contestants who’d made an impression on viewers, but we’re here to push boundaries and to find new stars. Having met the 24 chefs, this may be the best season yet.”
There are three Immunity Pins for this season, which is more than season 12’s single pin but fewer than the six and seven from precious seasons. Andy says that’s going to make a huge difference, having been in their shoes himself. “It’s great to have an Immunity Pin, the knowledge that if you have a problem, you can pull it out of your pocket and be exempt from being voted out. If you don’t have it, you have to be in the form of your life in every episode. You can’t let the ball drop by getting one ingredient wrong, everything must be perfect. That pushes a chef to grow.”
…INTO THE FIRE
The judges aren’t making it easy for the contestants, who’ve got to get through a tough audition phase. And it’s not a once-off trial to prove they can hack it in the MasterChef kitchen – there are two audition episodes, where the top 24 are carefully chosen. “This is something I never experienced during my career: opportunities like on MasterChef,” says Scottish chef Jock, who move to Oz in 2000. “You were thrown in the deepend and that’s what we’re doing with our contestants,” adds Jock, who loves the idea behind the second audition task. The contestants have two options: limited ingredients and 90 minutes to work, or an expanded pantry and just 45 minutes. “As a chef, I’m always going for more ingredients. The options are endless with good ingredients. But that is the point of MasterChef – someone may take the 90-minute, limited ingredients option and blow us away.”
There will be letdowns though, with Andy calling one dish later in the season “a total failure. It failed every category and it didn’t fit on any menu I could put together. Pity, but utterly gross.”
KITCHEN ROYALTY
Season 12 had loads of guest stars, including chef Gordon Ramsay (from the US version MasterChef US, 2010-now) and singer Katy Perry, whose song Hot ’n Cold (2008) was the theme song for the season. And season 13 will be no different as Jock, Melissa and Andy welcome a couple of familiar faces into the kitchen… not always in person though thanks to COVID-19 restrictions on travel. Cook Nigella Lawson (lifestyle series Simply Nigella, 2015-now) and chef Heston Blumenthal (lifestyle show Heston’s Fantastical Food, 2012) give challenges from the UK over Zoom videocall, while season 12 favourite contestant and dessert star Reynold Poernomo visits later in the season. “It was great fun coming back after the season I had,” says Reynold. “To be part of the MasterChef family is a feast for the soul… and, you know, the belly!”