With Class Act returning to our screens next month with a field presenter in the form of Phil "Blaqueboi" Mphela, Makisto saw it fitting to introduce Phil to us.
Blaqueboi is without a doubt well known on TVSA and many other online forums. He has a legion of followers who love and appreciate his work and a legion of followers who equally enjoy lambsting everything he does and bashing him. As
reported by TVSA in January, Blauqe is the Online Face of Class Act and a field presenter. The second season of the show starts on 23 April
In this Q&A, Makisto chats to Blaque about Class Act, who Blaque is away from the spotlight and who he is dating. I also ask Blaque a question about the shirt he wore to the Saftas.
Please note that the questions were unscripted so I might have missed out on some info you may want to know. I think you can still ask the questions and he may answer on the comments. After all, this article is all about him.
Makisto: How is your experience with Class Act? Blaqueboi: I’m having a ball and getting paid for it. I’m enjoying every minute of it.
Makisto: You guys have been travelling to all sorts of places. Which one was your most favourite? Blaqueboi: Uhm Hebron!
Makisto: Why?
Blaqueboi: Because the crowd there was not serious, they just wanted to have fun and they had fun. The problem with Joburg, Pretoria and all these other places is people are just so…they wear bright colour thinking oh, I’m gonna be on stage mang mang a ntebelletse wa bona.
Makisto: Ok, now, as the Online Face of the show and a field presenter, what is your advice to all those aspiring young actors out there? 
Blaqueboi: You know what? Class Act is not gonna make you a star. It’s only gonna give you a platform and what you do on that platform is entirely up to you. So when you come into the industry, know what your goals are or else you will fail. Yes you can win the show but (without goals) you will never get anywhere.
Makisto: Ok. With that kind of advice, aren’t you saying the show doesn’t have a responsibility of moulding stars? Blaqueboi: Look, this is what I’m saying: The show is not there to make you a star, the show is there to give you a platform to become a star. I mean we have people in our industry that are working and are not stars. In order for you to have a long career in the industry, do your homework. If you don’t, uzo fika lana, do your gig and after a year no career.
Makisto: Enough about Class Act. I don’t wanna bore bloggers with lots of info on this. I wanna talk about you. We only know Phil “Blaqueboi” Mphela the blogger on TVSA and on your website philmphela.com but we don’t really know you; we only know your work but not you. Who are you? Where do you come from? (You should have heard Blaque laughing while I was busy asking this question)
Blaqueboi: I’m a Rustenbur…I’m a Brits-born boy who grew up in Rusterburg.
Makisto: Oh, really? I thought you are Zulu.
Blaqueboi: No I am not. I am not Zulu. Don't you ask yourself why my cousin Katlego Mphela is not Zulu.
Makisto: I’m not much of a soccer junkie and I haven’t really heard him speak Tswana during post-match interviews and all that. In this day and age you will find a Dimakatso that’s Zulu or Xhosa. Blaqueboi: Bo Thokozani what what.
Makisto: You know. So now, how did you end up in Sandton?
Blaqueboi: Oh no no no no no no, I got bored in Sandton. No one wanted to come and visit me. I am now in Melville which is the hub of the industry and the whole artistic world. My landlord is actually a director for Isidingo so.. .
Makisto: You kidding.
Blaqueboi: I’m serious.
Makisto: So why aint you asking him to create a role for you in Isidingo?
Blaqueboi: Acting is not my thing, I never tried it and never will.
Makisto: I know you have been saying that ever since I knew there is a Blaqueboi out there. But why do you say that? 
Blaqueboi: I can’t act. I’m one of those people who believe that if I can’t do something, I shouldn’t do it. I’m not gonna try to do something I know I am not good at.
Makisto: Who told you that you can’t act?
Blaqueboi: My drama teacher.
Makisto: Your drama teacher said that? I have read and heard in many media platforms actors saying their teachers told them they can’t sing or act and now they are very successful in the industry. They are big stars and we see them on TV everyday. Blaqueboi: For me…I know I can’t act, don’t try and convince me otherwise. I know what I am good at and I’m gonna stick to it.
Makisto: What are you good at?
Blaqueboi: I’m good at talking nothing. (he lols shyly)
Makisto: Ok, it’s my principle that for people that are out there, I don’t use info they tell me on good faith or while confiding in me. I’m only gonna use info that you put on Facebook. You were going through some, uhm, how should I say this?.. some challenging times in your love department. How is that department coming along?
Blaqueboi: I don’t know where you got that but I am…
Makisto: I saw it on your Facebook status update.
Blaqueboi: Wa tseba janong I’m happily involved with someone I love very much.
Makisto: With who?
Blaqueboi: He is not out there. I don’t date people that are in the industry.
Makisto: Ok, where did you guys meet? Blaqueboi: We met in Pretoria during Class Act practice sessions.
Makisto: You kidding!
Blaqueboi: Yeah, I’m not. (We both lol and he takes a few steps away)
Makisto: Look at you! Where yare you going? Come back here? (He comes back and is still lolling) How long have you guys been dating?
Blaqueboi: Think about it man. Pretoria practice session? That was when? Two weeks ago.
Makisto: What made you think this is the one? Is he the one vele?
Blaqueboi: I don’t know yet. We just met we trying out and having a ball hey. It’s good being in love. I get a lot of…it’s great to…I get a lot of… A ke re wa bona on Facebook I get people hitting on me and stuff.
Makisto: What’s with people hitting on each other on Facebook. Just the other day I wrote posted a Q&A informal chat with Muvhango (Muvhango actors unplugged scene 2) and it was mostly about people hitting on them on Facebook and posting odd requests on their walls. Do you also get those kind of things? Blaqueboi: I do but I always say sorry bro I’m involved but sometimes you get tempted to explore that.
Makisto: Have you ever acted on those kind of temptations though?
Blaqueboi: No no I haven’t. The thing is people wanna meet Phil, the Phil that they…
Makisto: The blogger! 
Blaqueboi: Ja and they don’t know Phil.
Makisto: Ok, Tell us about Phil.
Blaqueboi: I’m just a regular guy, I get pissed off, I get bored very easily and I’m crazy. I create my own fun.
Makisto: Phil we will be writing about you now that you are in the public eye and we will critisise when it needs be and write great stuff if it needs be. Now, how do you feel about positive and negative feedback especially from those who are not constructive and are just bashing?
Blaqueboi: Look, if it wasn’t of those people who like my work and those who bash me, I wouldn’t be here right now getting paid to blog.
Makisto: What would you say is the greatest lesson you have learnt from those who encourage you and those… Blaqueboi: You know what, I do know that not everybody is gonna love what you do and not everybody is not gonna love you and that’s a good thing. Even Nelson Mandela, not everybody loves him and that’s an iconic man, who am I to think that everybody should love me. People who give me negative attitude actually make me wake up in the morning and say, I need to work hard and excel at what I do.
Makisto: I remember you wrote something on my article when I reviewed Nonhle's show (Hollywooding with Nonhle Thema) and Sarocks said something like now you are protecting Nonhle because she is your friend. How did you feel about that.
Blaqueboi: I am not protecting her (lolls)… I wasn’t protecting her.
Makisto: What were you doing? Blaqueboi: The thing is her show is about Nonhle goes to Hollywood ok, and you guys were reviewing the show based on what happened while she was still in South Africa. Whe she had gone to Hollywood then ja. What I was saying is…I wasn’t protecting her, what I was saying is, waiting for her to get t o Hollywood then you can take a dig at the show.
There is some noise made by Phil and I at this point on my recording as we all wanted to say our points and I can’t make anything out of it or I can’t hear what we were wanting to say.
Blaqueboi: Someone commented on her mom’s kettle.
Makisto: Carino reviewed the curtains and it was so much fun (Hollywooding with Nonhle Thema - The curtains) . She printed the curtains shots I think using PDF and used Photoshop to transfer them into Jpeg or Gif. We had a field day about those curtains, it was a whole lot of fun. Ok, enough about Nonhle and Hollywood now! Let’s talk about your…. Is it a shirt? I think it’s kind of revealing of your sexual orientation. (We both lol) I am not into fashion or anything of that sort. What do you call this scuffish shirt? And Phil has to urgently conduct an interview with Mam Lillian Dube as she just came to pose for the media and to do interviews after she received her award.
Pictures courtesy of Phil Blaqueboi Mphela's Facebook page