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If you have a romantic partner you are tired of and want to cut loose, but do not have the guts to, help is at hand.
Following the success of reality TV in South Africa over the past decade, viewers can get ready for a breathtakingly personal reality show on one of M-Net’s pay TV channels on DStv next year.
The new reality show, apply named Seng’khathele, which is isiZulu for “I’m tired” or, in context, “I’ve now had enough”, is a reality show that was recently picked up by Mzansi Wethu. The show features disgruntled lovers who dump their (not so) significant others on national TV.
The show is being shot by Johannesburg-based Tribal Media House in several locations. Prominent actress Lerato Mvelase of Isibaya and Home Affairs fame is the show’s presenter.
Essentially, dissatisfied lovers, with the help of the production team, plot to have their partners appear in front of the camera. They make a plan they know will attract their unsuspecting partner’s attention – and then the cameras start rolling.
Plans include anything from business proposals to surprise romantic dates.
An example is someone who hopes to get a marriage proposal or some other pleasant surprise lets their guard down, but then gets dumped in full view of high-definition cameras and the crew.
Two insiders who know about the production process revealed that, because of the nature of the show and how unsuspecting would-be “dumpees” are lured to the shooting location, there have been cases where filming could not take place because the dumpers got cold feet when it came to the punch.
In a story told by one of the insiders, a husband had agreed with the production team that they would lure his wife to the rendezvous point ostensibly to propose a business opportunity. But, when the time came, the disgruntled husband got cold feet and eventually left the production crew stranded with the unsuspecting wife.
M-Net told City Press that the participants are looked after at the end of it all.
The channel’s publicity manager, Bongiwe Potelwa-Metsing, said: “With a show like Seng’khathele, there is support for the couple that goes through the break-up and we offer the couples counselling, closure and comfort to help them deal with the break-up as we understand the weight of relationships in people’s lives.
“Seng’khathele is a reality show that tackles relationships that are on the rocks, and it aims to mediate the process of one partner telling their significant other that they are no longer happy. The show aims to give people closure and an opportunity to leave a relationship in an amicable fashion by providing couples with a platform to find closure once they have decided to end a relationship. This show speaks to audiences that may be in unhappy relationships but do not know how to leave, and don’t know what the consequences of leaving are – most don’t know that you may need therapy afterwards, and Seng’khathele provides that.”
* Seng’khathele will debut on January 19 at 7.30pm on DStv channel 163.
