The Funny Chef on being fired from OPW because she couldn’t speak Zulu

Lebogang Tlokana, who is affectionately known as The Funny Chef, joined Our Perfect Wedding (OPW) early last year.

In a statement released then, the Director of local entertainment channels at M-Net, Shirley Adonisi, said they chose The Funny Chef because they are committed to bringing different creatives on board to provide them with a platform to showcase their talents.

A few months into the show, viewers started complaining about the presenter, and she was later replaced with The Real Housewives of Durban (RHOD) star, Nonkanyiso ‘Laconco’ Conco.

During her recent interview with Mpho Popps and Robot Boii on MacG’s Popcorn and Cheese, The Funny Chef opened up about what she went through after losing the OPW gig.

She said while she was dealing with losing the job, campaigns also started pulling out, and she was also subjected to social media hate.

“I was broken, and I was depressed for four months. I didn’t want to leave the house or talk to anybody. My mom was worried that I was going to [kill] myself,” she shared.

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Social media hate

The Funny Chef said she tried to save her job and speak isiZulu, especially when she was working at weddings in KZN. She adds that her colleagues were kind enough to tell her what was happening.

“[They told me] viewers are not happy, and if they are not happy, the channel is not going to be happy… Which was fair. I just didn’t expect it so soon because I was trying.

“Then I get a call saying – ‘We are going to let you go. Thank you very much for contributing’… Then, the hate started coming up,” she said, adding that people were saying she is fat and cannot dress.

The Chef said the social media hate poured salt on the wound: “Whether you are strong or not, you will feel it… When one thing goes wrong, everything else goes wrong, campaigns started pulling out”.

She is currently a host for SABC1’s popular reality cooking show, Plate It Up. The second season of the show premiered in May this year.

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