As you may have noticed, we love Anele around here. It has been beautiful watching her journey on radio co-hosting with Grant and eventually making her way to the coveted spot on the 947 Breakfast. Her TV journey has also seen her host Top Billing, Clash of the Choirs and Our Perfect Wedding, but our favourite to date has to be Real Talk. Here are our top five reasons why we love it so much.

She meets her guests at their level...

The guests profiled on the show are mostly from the entertainment industry, but often from such polar opposite areas of it. Whether Anele is interviewing Queen of Gospel Rebecca Malope or new kid on the block Nasty C, she is able to speak their language, which in turn makes them comfortable enough to speak to her.

She does her research...

Many times, when you watch the show you will notice how guests are surprised at the details that Anele knows about them. You also find that her questions are prefaced with a backstory. While many may argue that it is all thanks to her team, you can’t argue that it also takes some reading of her own to have the kind of knowledge that she does on her guests. In the latest issue of True Love she speaks about how she gets to the studio to start preparing for the show around 1pm when the show only plays at 5pm. She also recently interviewed Nigerian media personality Toke Makinwa and you could tell that she had read the book on which the interview was based.

She’s true to who she is...

Oprah always says that one of the great lessons she learnt earlier on in her career is that she is a much better Oprah than she is a pretend Barbara Walters. It feels almost as though Anele follows this advice on Real Talk. She laughs as loudly on the show as she does when you share a joke with her at Xhosa Nostra and shares personal anecdotes that relate to the stories and questions that she asks her guests. Her personality really shines through and turns the interview into a conversation rather than a Q&A session.

She helps us see people we have known about for years in a new light...

The way in which Anele conducts her interviews leaves the guests feeling so comfortable with her that they share stories that they otherwise would not have shared. Celebrities like Moshidi Motshegwa who shy away from interviews have come to trust Anele with their stories which allows for us to learn more about them. Just the other day she had Khanyi Dhlomo on the show who shared that she actually started off as a skivvy at True Love before she would go on to be the editor of in less than 2 years – a part of her journey which isn’t always highlighted.

The show’s ratings have been on the rise over the last year that it has been on air and we are excited to see it grow from strength to strength. Hopefully soon, she will have a studio audience and I pray that I am in it when everyone gets a car.

Real Talk is in its third season and is broadcast live from Steyn City on SABC 3 on Weekdays at 5pm.

What are some of your favourite moments from Real Talk with Anele?

by Richmond Sajini