Reports of major shake-ups on ‘The Wife’

The Wife on ShowMax is reportedly going through major shake-ups which include the report of current fan-favourite characters set to leave the series.

Last week, Multichoice did not confirm to The Citizen of reports that the lead Hlomu played by Mbalenhle Mavimbela will be leaving and her character will be recast.

A tweet by entertainment reporter Phil Mphela claimed Mavimbela will no longer play Hlomu in the Showmax series. 

At the time, Nomsa Philiso of MultiChoice’s response was: “No decisions have been made about the final cast list for Season 3.”

RELATED: Multichoice tight-lipped on reports that Hlomu for ‘The Wife’ will be re-cast

On Sunday, Mphela made several claims on Twitter which include that Mondli Makhoba who played the Zulu brother’s patriarch and older brother Nkosana Zulu won’t return to season three of The Wife. 

There were also claims that Zikhona Sodlaka – who also has been applauded for her role as Mandisa will –also not return for future seasons, including actress Khanyi Mbau as Zandile.

Season two focused on Zandile’s storyline and the series is inspired by the successful trilogy books written by Dudu Busani-Dube. 

Understandably so, fans of the show and books were in disbelief about the reports, however, the storyline in season three will largely follow Kwenzi Ngcobo’s character Qhawe and his love interest Naledi (Gaisang K Noge). 

Dudu’s third novel, Naledi: His Love is about this; for book readers, this shouldn’t come as a big surprise. 

However, the TV series strayed from large sections of the book, particularly in season two. It may be assumed that future seasons would follow a similar format.

The Citizen reached out to Showmax and received a response from the production company of The Wife, Stain Glass TV.

“We are currently in the preproduction phase that includes the contracting process for all cast and crew. All our principal actors have been confirmed to be part of The Wife for season 3. Stained Glass, the cast and crew can’t wait to bring viewers a formidable third season.”

The Wife had a big night at DStv’s Mzansi Viewers Choice Awards on Saturday, as Ngcobo was voted Favourite rising actor and Abdul Khoza (as Nqoba) won Favourite Actor.

READ NEXT: DStv Mzansi Choice Awards – ‘The Wife’ actors, Lawrence and Makhadzi win big

This article has been updated, to include the response from The Wife production company Stained Glass TV.