Lion King’s Lebo M hopes new show will ignite chats about fatherhood

A reality series depicting Lebo M's journey, from how he got his musical break as a nine year old, to a glimpse of his private life with his nine children.

Lebo M. Picture: Nick Boulton

The Lion King’s Lebohang Morake, better known as Lebo M, has announced his homecoming in the latest Showmax series, Lebo M – Coming Home.

The series is played out in Lebo M’s new home at the opulent Blair Atholl Golf Estate with his third wife, Angela, his 95-year-old mother and four of his nine children.

The Soweto-born composer and producer said: “Celebrity, success and fame are largely a perception. There are average human beings behind the myths.”

In episode one, which aired on 2 December 2020, Lebo M’s son Tshepiso has recently become a father himself but his relationship with Lebo M is strained. They particularly clash over Ayanda, Tshepiso’s girlfriend and mother of his baby.

Lebo M admits that his role as a family man is one of his toughest jobs compared to his successful career in entertainment.

The star is known for receiving a Grammy in 1994, and is the first voice you hear in The Lion King, a highlight of Hans Zimmer’s Oscar-winning soundtrack.

He has also produced the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2010 Fifa World Cup, and won the 2020 DStv Mzansi Viewer’s Choice 1Life Legend award.

“There’s a lot of conflict with me and my kids that comes from my kind of work, how they were brought up and brought up in two countries.

‘They challenge me a lot; they’re brought up that way. But I challenge them also,” he says.

The star says this will be the first time he allows viewers behind the scenes of his private life.

He says he is hopeful that with this reality series, conversations about fatherhood in South Africa will arise.

“I’ve never felt vulnerable in front of the camera as a performer but this time, it’s different. It’s about that aspect of my life I always preferred to be private. Now, I’m feeling rather overexposed.

“I don’t necessarily say I have had a perfect father-mother relationship with the mothers of my children. But a conversation around fatherhood, I think, is equally important given where society is, where the mindset of men is. I don’t necessarily agree a lot with South African men’s fathering attitudes or stances,” he says.