A gracious goodbye to 3 Talk With Noeleen

But don’t expect anything sombre: host Noeleen Maholwana Sangqu wants to go out with a bang. In her final episode, Maholwana Sangqu will have a live audience made up of friends, family and members of the media as her farewell.

She’ll also be chatting to some of her favourite celebrity guests and the professionals who have contributed regularly.

But could the end of 3 Talk be the end of talk TV as we know it? On the same day Maholwana Sangqu says goodbye to her viewers, Khanyi Mbau says hello, with the launch of the third season of Katch It With Khanyi on e.tv – a very different format. In October last year, ratings showed Katch It With Khanyi was the most watched talk show in the country, while 3 Talk’s ratings were dismal.

Comparing the two shows would be unfair, though – 3 Talk is a daily live show that covers almost every topic under the sun. Katch It With Khanyi is a recorded show which airs once week and focuses on local celebrities.

But the success of Mbau’s celebrity-driven show could point to what the future looks like for talk shows in our country.

Khanyi Mbau on set. Picture: Refilwe Modise

Maholwana Sangqu was often criticised for having the same guests on the show and for being boring. In recent months she’s shaken things up by having some of the country’s controversial celebrities on the show and asking them tough questions.

But let’s face it, our dear Noeleen is no Diane Sawyer. Her strength has always been her ability to relate to people and being compassionate.

Despite what many people would say about 3 Talk now, when the show premiered all those years ago it made an impact. For the first time on local television people of all races were calling into a talk show, speaking about everything from lighthearted topics to rape, crime and domestic abuse.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out the show was canned because ratings had dropped. But after years at the helm our TV host deserves nothing less than a gracious goodbye.

3 Talk With Noeleen airs on SABC 3 today at 4pm.

Katch It With Khanyi airs on e.tv on Mondays at 6pm