It turns out that the winner of the new version of Win a Home will win themselves a home and Ryk Neethling as a neighbour.
Ha! Literally. The viewer prize home is on the same estate that Ryk lives on, the
Val de Vie Estate in Paarl:
In case you aren't familiar with it... it's the place where Harry fell off the horse playing polo when he visited South Africa. I had no idea that South Africans play polo when he isn't in town so I was surprised when I discovered that the estate has regular polo events.
It also has final building developments going on, which is what Win a Home will be transforming. As you may have seen in the
casting call for designers, the show has changed from a stand alone series to a daily insert on Afternoon Express, starting on 16 May.
They've been searching for three participating designers who will each win prizes of their own and a viewer will a home at the end of the process, as they've done in previous seasons.
The difference this time is that they're going to be able to choose which home they want. The three designers will snazz-up three homes and the winner will be able to visit them to choose which one they want.
I visited the estate for the first time recently for an SABC2 shindig and it was storming with rain but I braved it to take snaps of the homes to show you...
They're in a cool position on the estate because they're in the hub of things - a stones throw from the main restaurant and other activities. There's also going to a pool in the area with the arrow.
According to the series producer Lars Schwinges, the interior designers are going to take a lot longer to transform each room than previous years - two weeks instead of a couple of days. This means that the quality of each will be enhanced and they're also going to get a lot schmancier with the decor.
Various hotshot designers, like those who make furnishings etc., will create items especially made for the homes. They'll also be making extra pieces which viewers can win in competitions during the course of the makeovers.
Ultimately the winning viewer will win themselves a valuable piece of real estate with front row access to the goss surrounding Ryk's wedding. I've been hearing whisperings that Top Billing is in talks to film his wedding to his beauty queen fiancée Sahar Biniaz so it looks like it's going to happen soooon.