Love Island SA premiered with only two black people in its cast. Since its debut on Sunday, the show has suffered massive international blowback over its lack of diversity. They’ve also been in the throes of public backlash over a bunch of technical issues that rendered it a poorly produced, sloppy mess.

By Monday, they had lost one of their sponsors.

The conversation is about how the casting of the show replicates notions of white as right. Statistically, the show came nowhere near reflecting the racial and cultural diversity of the country.

Perhaps as a desperate move to pacify audiences, the channel later teased the coming of new cast members later in the season. The pictures feature arms and tummies and other body-part close-ups of melanated people.

That didn’t work out. Twitter quickly termed these introductions as ’emergency blacks’. It looked like a desperate attempt to fix a problem whose foundations are troubling.

M-Net has since apologised about the show’s appalling lack of diversity and the delivery of a technically catastrophic premiere episode. “We’re sorry – we didn’t meet our standards on both counts.” They are also working tirelessly to fix things, it says here.

This should be a learning moment.

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Thursday’s The Bachelorette South Africa delivered another eventful episode. It all started uptempo, with Qiniso surprising everyone in the mansion by inviting Craig for a little tea party to have a catch-up with him. Girl knows how to shake these men up.

So the men in the mansion were shook and thrown all the way off.

THE GROUP DATE

Brad, Vuyani, Aviwe, Gareth, Marc, Kyran, Justin, and Dylan were all called up to go on a group date with Q, leaving the others, especially Ruan, feeling a bit left out.

The date comprised of a speed date, which left some of the men very tongue-tied, followed by an auction held by Jason himself and sponsored by Lotto Star. The men had to bid for an attribute that makes for a great relationship, and Kyran won some one-on-one time with South Africa’s bachelorette.

Kryan bid on honesty and trust, and he took that theme into the date, telling Qiniso that he had a twelve-year-old son. But even after a great one-on-one, Kyran failed to get a rose from Qiniso.

THE BUTLER

Aviwe generously helped Kyran in his bid by financially backing him. This is a favour that Aviwe called upon very early and made Kyran his butler. And all in good fun and good spirits, the nature conservationist, being a man of his word, fully embodied the role and waited on Aviwe and Marc.

THE FIRST ONE ON ONE DATE 

Keelan picked up the first one-on-one date of the season and went on a yoga date with Qinso. After a relaxing session, the two had breakfast together where things became very deep and very personal. Keelan made himself vulnerable and opened up about his previous relationship.

He emotionally confessed to having cheated on his ex to get out of their relationship. A risky move, but his honesty won over Qiniso and built on their trust and intimacy. This earned Keelan the first kiss and a rose.

RUAN’S SURPRISE PICNIC

 After winning his first impression rose, Ruan felt that he was not getting enough time with Qinso, and to his surprise, she thought the same thing and whisked him away on a spontaneous picnic.

The two seemed very at ease and had a very fun and relaxing time. “Yes, serious conversations are important to have, BUT, I feel like the way in which we going off into little tangents, and just really enjoying each other’s company and enjoying the moment together is just as valuable,” – said Qiniso.

Being in sight of the guys, some of them felt a tad jealous of the experience and were worried he would receive a rose.

NO ROOM FOR BS AT THE COCKTAIL 

The party got off to a flying start, with Justin alerting everyone to the fact that females tend to see through men’s BS. This sparked an impromptu grilling of the guys from Q about what exactly is their BS. This left some of them opening up and others scrambling, with Brad opening up about something that might have been a bit too personal for the setting.

Later Qiniso stole a kiss with Cameron, asserting herself as a woman that takes charge and makes her own decisions. Needless to say, this left Cameron on cloud nine and the other men feeling very jealous and awkward.

BRAD AND MARC LEAVING 

The rose ceremony was another tense affair, leaving Peter, Aviwe, Brad, and Marc all sweating. This time two of the men went home.

Marc – the father of two, business developer, brand strategist, and Qiniso’s silver fox – was not 100% invested, and Qiniso said that she doesn’t need 50/50. Marc was sent home, but he wished her all the best.

Bradley, the man from the banking and insurance industry, who rapped to Qiniso on the red carpet, opened up about his father on the night. He ended up not being chosen by Qniso and had to leave the mansion.

The Bachelorette SA airs on Thursdays on M-Net Channel 101 at 19:30.

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The first few episodes of the Real Housewives of Durban have already given us enough shade, tea and material to declare the debut season of the Durban edition a major hit. The girlies didn’t come to play, and the latest episode proves just quickly those designer gloves can come off chile.

Nonku and Ayanda Ncwane’s ongoing frenemy dynamic is as interesting as it is explosive.

One second they are having an intense chat about Ayanda’s late husband, a legendary gospel singer fathering a child with Nonku, in the presence of all the girls. The next thing they agree that the past is better left where it is.

Seconds later, they are reading each other for filth. A mess! And it looks to be only getting more intense.

As Machonco said, one of these ladies isn’t being genuine. Of course, the viewers know by now that they are shading each other during the confessionals and dragging each other behind her back. Both of them never mince their words either. Yet they insist, let bygones be bygones. Explain that pettiness to me as you would to a 5-year-old. Take your time.

In the latest episode of the reality show, both Kgomotso and Nonku threw parties for their respective ventures. While Kgomotso’s event went rather smooth, except for that awkward speech, Nonku’s one was hit by many technical issues.

“It was a flop, yes”, she later lamented during a diary session. As if that was not bad enough, did the ladies not deal with her?

Instead of supporting Nonku’s imperfect wine brand launch, they gave her the hardest time. The ladies critiqued everything from the event setup, to the presentation and something about the “energy” being off. “I don’t know, maybe it’s because this event is at night”, Maconco later shaded.

It’s clear by now that the tension between Ayanda and Nonku will continue to play a big role in the alliances this season. They are both giving us Queen B vibes, rallying up new factions amongst the girls to split the entire Durban in half.

This is getting interesting by the minute.

Real Housewives of Durban premieres new episodes every Friday on Showmax.

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