Nicky Greenwall debuts a new show on e.tv and eNews soon called
The Close Up. It's a seven-episode documentary series featuring close up interviews with celebs.
In the line-up are: Black Coffee, Jack Parow,
Kenneth Nkosi, Lee-Ann Liebenberg, the Locnville twins,
Tamara Dey and Simphiwe Dana.
Each episode zooms in on each of them and looks at their life and career through their eyes, memories and photos. Sort of like E!'s True Hollywood Story but closer and more intimate.
Out of everyone mentioned above - including Nicky - who do these belong to? Answer coming up ...
The inspiration for the show: Nicky's baby. Nicky's eight months pregnant and won't be doing The Showbiz Report while she's on maternity leave so she's created and pre-filmed it to air while she's away.
Nicky with the Locnville episode in the background. As you can see their parents dressed them the same.
It starts on e.tv on Saturday, 20 August at 19h30 and on eNews at 22h30 and airs for seven weeks. It'll be followed by a series of Top 10 Showbiz Report specials until Nicky returns to continue The Showbiz Report sometime next year.
The show held a red carpet shindig at 15 on Orange in Cape Town recently, starring Nicky and most of the celebs.
Black Coffee wasn't there 'cos he had to perform in Europe and Simphiwe Dana was nowhere to be spotted. She was going to be there but then either arrived late or not at all 'cos I didn't see her anywhere.
Everyone else was in the action so I scooped with a handful of booze for us:
Locnville's Andrew and Brian Chaplin. I have no clue whether their name's are the right way round - it's genuinely impossible to tell them apart. As I scrutinized them, all I kept thinking was that one of them should do that shaved eyebrow thing with his initial or something. I was so busy thinking this I forgot to ask why they're called Locnville.
Aha!
Kenneth Nkosi's wife Itumeleng. Whenever I've spotted Kenneth I've always flirted with him chatted to him solo and didn't realise he was so attached. I was like: "Ooooh," when I saw them together and scooched over for a threesome to get the deets.
Turns out Itumeleng and Kenneth have been together since 2005 and met in Cape Town. Itumeleng currently works at Mango - she was working at another airline at the time and flew into the city for the night.
Kenneth was staying at the same hotel as her, they got chatting and he asked her to go with him to a film festival to see Tsotsi.
She played hard-to-get and said "No." They exchanged numbers, hooked up in Jozi when they got back and that was it. They got married last year.
Tashi: What are you most interested in seeing when you see The Close Up on Kenneth?
Itumeleng: I don't know much about the show - I know it's about his life, his background and everything. I'm interested in seeing him as a young boy because we don't really have many pictures of him as a young boy.
I'm very interested in seeing that because he was actually slender so I'm wondering where he got all the weight from. He did look much cuter then *
laughs*. Believe me, I'm pursuing him to go to gym so he's thinking about it.
Jack Parow, on the side of the red carpet, hungover and unable to cope with the carpet itself. He told me that he couldn't believe he'd been invited - said the event was much more swanky than anything he usually gets invited to.
What was the most difficult question to answer in The Close Up?
Jack: It's so f*cking long ago I can't remember, I can't, I really can't.
Tashi: Have your answers changed between then and now?
Jack: No, no they still the same.
Tashi: What can you tell us about the interviews?
Jack: I really like Nicky, she's an easy girl to talk to - I related easily to her. How do you say? ... Sy's a baie warm, kool persoon. Sy maak 'n mens gemaklik voel en so aan. (She's a very warm, cool person. She makes a person feel comfortable an so on). I really like that - I don't really hide stuff about life so it was cool to put it all into one interview.
Tashi: Are you
Jack or Zander in the interview?
Jack: I'm pretty much always Jack - Jack Parow's just a kooler name than Zander Tyler. In my music and stuff I over-embellish obviously 'cos I like keeping my music light hearted but character-wise, I'm pretty much the same.
Jacts (Jack facts) you might not know:
He has a girlfriend who studied acting.
He bought her a hi-tech computer screen for her birthday.
He shops at Computer Mania in Canal Walk.
He watches 7de Laan.
Tamara Dey in a outfit from a vintage shop in Salt River called The Cat's Meouw. It was worn by a 100-year-old woman for her birthday apparently.
Tashi: How did you get your hair to grow so quickly on the side from the shaved look?
(As in the style that's also worn by:
Nolly Meje,
Didi Moses and
Dineo Ranaka. It's always troubled me - wondering how you free yourself from being lopsided.)
Tamara: I've just started growing it out. This is probably one of the hairstyles that I've loved the most but I love change, I love to re-invent myself.
I had the undercut for two years believe it or not so it's time to let go of it and I'm quite excited. It just needs to get to like "here" *
demonstrates shoulder length* and then we'll start doing something interesting with the shape.
Tashi: What was the most difficult question for you to answer on the show?
Lee-Ann: I went into my dad's cancer a few years ago which was very emotional for me to speak about because I haven't spoken about it.
It was nice to admit to a few things about how scared I was and how tough it really was on me. I couldn't believe how I opened up - Nicky's so amazing, you just want to open up, she's like a friend, you forget the camera's there - you just talk and talk and talk.