Bonang, AKA get amped

Shortly after news that Bonang Matheba’s Twitter rival Pearl Thusi will be hosting Lip Sync Battle Africa with Matheba’s alleged ex, Nigerian singer D’banj, the entertainment personality surprised her fans with news of her own. Matheba will be treating her many fans and viewers of SABC’s Live Amp tonight to a dose of Queen B.

This is after news that Thusi was allegedly kicked out of the SABC following her joining rival channel e.tv for Lip Sync Battle. “I will be on Live Amp this Friday as a co-host, presenting with the show’s DJ Warras. The SABC has asked me to help out only for this day,” she says, squashing twitterati speculation about her joining the show for a longer stint.

Matheba further cleared up the misunderstanding that she will be presenting the show with AKA; a confusion that was created by Live Amp’s promo video, featuring AKA and talking about “The Queen”, whose identity had not yet been disclosed. “Yes AKA will be there, but only as a guest,” says Matheba.

The popular rapper, who is alleged to be dating Matheba, has had his fans in a frenzy with teasers about dropping his new single, One Time, on the show tonight.

Matheba, who is also presenting with Maps Maponyane on E! Entertainment’s E! Beyond the Red Carpet: Saftas TV special that the channel will broadcast two days after the conclusion of the 10th South African Film and Television Awards (Saftas), says viewers can expect international quality fashion from her as she will be continuing to work with stylist Law Roach.

“The Saftas are Mzansi’s Oscars, so I need to bring it. My appearance needs to be 100%.” Matheba says what keeps her looking as great as she does is eating right, getting six hours of sleep per night, and working out. She also states that “no man is an island” and her PR team helps her stay on schedule and makes her job easier.

“I’ve been presenting for over 16 years now. When you are born to do it, all forces come together to create a wonderful package. I don’t find my job challenging. This is the territory I work in. I have learned how to deal with it. I understand that image is a big part of what I do, and my team helps me a lot with this,” she points out.

Matheba says while she takes her job seriously and does her utmost to do it meticulously, criticism will always be a part of human nature, adding that this is one of the issues that makes the entertainment industry a challenging industry to be in.

“There is a lot of criticism in the industry. People always have opinions. There is pressure, the media, late nights, and no weekends. It’s a lot of little challenges,” she says.

Matheba, who explains that she spends a lot of time with family and friends and sees them as her support base, went on to mention that as part of her many evident achievements this year, she will be honoured with her own star at the inaugural Africa Walk of Fame in Rosebank on March 31.