Tyra Chikocho 'Madam Boss' received the most votes from E! Africa Social Star award. Picture: Instagram
The continent’s stars shined during E! Entertainment’s search for this year’s African Social Star and a TikTok creator from South Africa nearly took the top prize.
Witney Ramabulana is a popular TikTok content creator, she and Kenyan Azziad Nasenya were runners-up to Zimbabwean comedian Tyra Chikocho, well known as Madam Boss, who received the most votes, according to a statement.
Top entertainment channel E! asked fans to vote from 27 October to 17 November for the continent’s best social media stars and influencers.
From South Africa, the list of nominees also included Boity Thulo and Mihlali Ndamase.
ALSO READ: Boity, Lasizwe and Mihlali nominated at People’s Choice Awards
She may have been a runner-up but Ramabulana follows in the footsteps of other local celebs such as Bonang Matheba who won the inaugural African Influencer of the Year award in 2019, Springbok captain Siya Kolisi, who was honoured as African Trailblazer of the Year in 2020 and former Miss Universe Zozi Tunzi, who came third in the African Social Star category in 2020.
Madam Boss is from Harare and started off her career as a gospel singer but it was her comedy skits that made her go viral on social media. She became the first Zimbabwean comedian to pass one million followers on Facebook and has over 800,000 followers on Instagram.
The comedian thanked her fans for voting in their numbers. She said in a statement: “I can’t believe it! I don’t know how to explain how I’m feeling right now, I’m so emotional, I’m crying and very happy at the same time.”
Video sharing app TikTok is creating many stars and if you are a frequent visitor on the app then Ramabulana’s content may be familiar to you. Her relatable and funny videos have seen her gain over 2.4 million followers and her posts have been liked over 41.1 million times.
@witney8 ♬ Dangerous (Refix Version) – lilmann__
The 2021 People’s Choice Awards premiers on Tuesday 7 December live on E! channel 124 on Dstv at 2am, the repeat will be aired on Wednesday 8 December at 8pm.
Compiled by Sandisiwe Mbhele
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