Bio
Bjorn Blignaut is a South African singer and actor best known as a member of Ghetto Lingo, the winning group of the SABC1 reality competition Popstars, in 2004.
He was also a Top 6 finalist in the fourth season of the M-Net reality competition Idols, in 2007, and played the role of James "Thunder" Early in the musical Dreamgirls, in 2011.
In 2011 he joined the cast of the SABC2 variety comedy show Colour TV.
Hailing from Gauteng, Bjorn was born and raised in Eldorado Park, Johannesburg. At the age of 9 he was then discovered by his late grandmother who had already been a performer in the community at the time. He then entered various local community functions and concerts.
At the age of 12 he participated in the national talent competition Shell Road to Fame. He entered the competition in Durban, where his supportive parents drove him to. He won the competition.
Bjorn also attained the Transvaal colours in swimming for 6 consecutive years at the time of competing.
At the age of 17, Bjorn started a singing group with his friends, called Boys to Men, adapted from the USA group.
At this age he entered the SABC1 competition Jam Alley and took first place, which led to future successes.
Straight after school Bjorn entered the world of the Corporate industry to experience what that would be like and later decided it was not for him.
At the age of 19, he started singing at local karaoke bars in the evenings. One evening he was approached by a recording producer from America, who offered him an opportunity in the international industry.
After travelling to the USA not all promises were fulfilled, but the experience was priceless and would carry him through his career.
After this experience he was introduced to Stephan Evans, a record producer from Belgium, who offered him a singing career. This opportunity exposed him to various live performances including performing live to the mayor of Belgium.
He then experienced success by winning the South African Popstars SABC1 competition and was part of the winning group, Ghetto Lingo.
After the group disbanded he auditioned for Idols and made the Top 6. Disillusioned at not winning the competition, he turned to hustling for money and was caught smuggling drugs in London and spent two years in a UK jail.
Upon his return to South Africa he resurrected his career by performing at a variety of venues, before landing a big gig on the local premiere of Dreamgirls. It was his first theatre production.
He landed his first acting role in Colour TV on SABC2, also in 2011. He followed this up with the role of Alex in Villa Rosa, in 2014.
In 2017 he joined the cast of the kykNET soapie Binnelanders in the role of Justin, making his first appearance in Season 13, Episode 1 (which aired on Monday 12 June).