Hailed as one of SA’s most fabulous events, the YOU Spectacular was held at Emperor’s Palace on Saturday June 7
th. I caught up with Jeannie D, Shashi Naidoo, Nico & Christi Panagio, Tamara Dey, Anne Hirsch, Adriaan Bergh & his fiancée Melinda Bam. We chatted all things fashion, travel, upcoming projects and of course, Survivor :-)
The show was hosted by Anne Hirsch who absolutely killed it! If you have not yet watched The Anne Hirsch Show on YouTube, you haven’t quite lived. Anne’s witty sense of humor came in handy especially since so many award winners did not pitch up to accept their awards!!
Unfortunately, predicting attendance for an event like this is impossible for the organizers so having Anne swoop in to make light of the number of absentees was the perfect solution. Don’t you just hate it when celebs RSVP and say they’re going to attend an event and then they don’t?
I won’t mention any names……....actually I'll mention two. Word on the street is that a surprise no-show for the evening was favorite couple winners Minnie Dlamini and Itumeleng Khune who said they would attend and well, they just did not show up. Not a good look guys!
With Anne Hirsch
After the show, I asked Anne which country she would love to visit on holiday that she’s never been to before and she said (and I quote): “Umm, Greece. Because I love olives”. She wasn’t as convinced about doing Survivor though. She said that doing Survivor is the same as Come Dine with Me. It sounds like a good idea at the time but then not so much. I told her that I found it hilarious that she compared Survivor to a show about food. Oh…..the irony.
With Jeannie D
Looking stunning as usual, SA’s sexiest woman winner Jeannie D said she was quite surprised by her win. Top Travel keeps Jeannie quite busy and so this honor came as a bit of a shock. I asked Jeannie if she was stranded on an island what her luxury item would be and she responded with: "Ummm, a mobile home. A 5-star mobile home!".
Clearly, she is more Top Travel than Survivor. Her biggest concern about playing the game was the “ground work”. As in, the actually sleeping on the ground. We had quite a laugh about that
Jeannie D wore this sultry Tiger of Sweden dress.
With Tamara Dey
You guys may be surprised to learn though that Tamara Dey has absolutely zero interest in ever playing Survivor because she said she is just not competitive enough! Tamara said that some people may be stunned to learn that about her but she is just not the type to want to get to an island and start backstabbing people to win.
However, she would consider doing Amazing Race because she would have her man by her side. He would be the perfect partner, the ying to her yang and he would most certainly bring it come competition time. I would so watch that!!
For all the Flash Republic fans out there, you guys will be pleased to know that the group is planning to release some new music soon and Tamara is also working on a more emotional solo project which we will be able to check out next year some time. Cannot wait!! Tamara Dey looked fantastic in Black Coffee.
With Shashi Naidoo
Presenter on the night, Shashi Naidoo, switched up her look for the evening in an Augustine ladies tuxedo. Shashi wanted a break from the typical sparkly evening gown and I thought she totally pulled off a sort of sexy vixen look.
Shashi won the Tropika Island of Treasure 2 which is more of a 5-star experience than Survivor and homegirl won't have it any other way. Even though I think Shashi would be great at the social aspect of playing Survivor, I doubt we’ll be seeing that anytime soon.
What we may get to see sometime in the near future though is Shashi on the small screen. Shashi may be returning to television as a host but shhhhh............top secret information! Shashi has been newly named asbrand ambassador for Tumi luggage so it was only fitting that I asked her which country she would love to visit that she has not yet had an opportunity to.
Her answer was Turkey. One of my absolute faves!!! I gave her some hot spots to visit so we’ll all have our eyes glued to her Instagram account for some pictures from Istanbul J
With Melinda Bam and Adriaan Bergh
Melinda Bam looked so pretty in a dress by local designer Casper Bosman-Crous. Her equally dapper fiancée Adriaan was the most delightful accessory. The engaged pair, who won the favorite couple award at the 2013 YOU Spectacular, would actually both be keen for a Survivor island adventure!!
They both seem down to earth adrenaline junkies and are ready for anything so perhaps there is a celeb couples season in our future? Adriaan did caution however that he would struggle with the lack of food. I understand bra – it’s ROUGH!!!
With Nico and Christi Panagio
Lastly, one of my favorite chats of the night, was with Nico and Christi Panagio. I got some Survivor scoop that many of you may not know! Nico applied to be on the first season of Survivor SA, made the Top 22, and then was rejected because production thought that he was too well-known back then since he was on 7de laan at the time.
Season 2 rolled around (which was actually my season) and he was under contract and could not participate then either. Nico has hosted since season 3 which for all intents and purposes now renders him ineligible. However, Nico has a brilliant idea. What if they did a worldwide HOSTS vs. HEROES season?
He's already figured out that he would be in an alliance wih Jeff Probst and they would run things. Proper. Gorgeous Christi said that she would probably be ok on Survivor during the daytime. The rats, sand crabs and mozzies at night would be a huge problem though. I CONCUR!! They are a problem.
Nico was nominated in the favorite host category. Although he sadly did not walk away with the award, he did manage to get on stage and show us some of his dance moves. Impressive.
Thanks to YOU for a fabulous evening. See you next year!
For a full list of all the winners, check out:
2014 YOU Spectacular Awards.
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