Tension mounts in Presenter Search on 3
And then there were five!
After the elimination of Cape Town songwriter Jarrad Ricketts, the remaining contestants in SABC3’s Presenter Search on 3: Expresso Edition, are two weeks from knowing who will be the new presenters for the channel’s morning show, Expresso.
The two winners will take up their new presenting positions as soon as possible after the reality series finale.
In last week’s episode, the 11th in the series, the top six got their first taste of an Expresso staple – the travel segment. Their first travel challenge took them to the Kingdom of eSwatini where they were split up into teams to explore the country’s arts and culture.
Each contestant was tasked with creating a travel segment about an activity, from Swazi cooking and traditional woodcraft to local music and learning dance steps, and after viewing the raw footage of each insert, the judges made their decision. Turns out the sangoma’s prediction of success for Jarred in his segment was not a promise that he’d win the competition… However, as eliminations go, the 32-year-old SAMA nominee could not have asked for a more scenic spot – the team converged on top of the second largest granite rock in the world, Sibebe Rock outside Mbabane, and he learnt his fate against the backdrop of a spectacular sunset view.
This season’s aspiring contestants entered by submitting a one-minute audition video on Instagram, and top entrants were invited to auditions in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban. A top 10 were selected to face judges Thando Thabethe, Dr Musa Mthombeni and Roger Goode, and in a surprise twist, viewers were afforded the opportunity to vote in an extra finalist, which saw Kuhle Adams making a reappearance in Episode 6.
On Wednesday 23 October one more person will be sent home, leaving four contestants standing for the finale’s epic final challenge, which will be broadcast on 30 October.
So who are the top five? From the Mother City comes Deen Woodman, at 39 the oldest of the contestants, a gym lover who grew up in Mitchells Plain. “Mr Flex and Smile” has the confidence of maturity and his easy way with people is nicely rounded off by a six pack that he gamely shows off whenever he is asked to take his shirt off, which is often! 
His fellow Capetonian Jamie-Lee Domburg has earned her nickname of “Golden Goddess” with her sunny smile and an irrepressible personality that lights up the room. A plus-size model and proud mom, her mission is to inspire women to be comfortable in her skin and so far she has succeeded in being someone viewers can really relate to.
The baby of the crew, Thato Moshoeshoe, is a third-year student at Nelson Mandela University in Port Elizabeth, with royal blood no less, as the great-grandson of Lesotho’s King Lepogo Moshoeshoe. At 20 he also has the secret weapon of being the one contestant who is plugged into youth culture.
Nathaneal Davids and Kuhle Adams both live in Johannesburg, although Kuhle has come to Jozi by way of the Eastern Cape, where she grew up, and Cape Town, where she graduated from UCT. She is a natural in front of the camera, and a queen of social media, whose social awareness and strong and well-timed comments about gender-based violence won over viewers’ votes and saw her getting that second chance back into the show.
Nathaneal’s skills as a comedian give him an edge in many of the challenges, but in last night’s episode it landed him in the bottom three with judges advising him not to fall back on being funny all the time. Tough call for a pro who has shared the stage with some of SA’s comedic greats, and though he was sad to greet his teammate Jarrad, there was great relief that he lived to see another day, and another episode.
All five are potential stars, but as talented as they all are, someone will be sent home this week. Who will be the next to go? Don’t miss the next episode on Wednesday, 23 October, at 19:30 on SABC3.