Television personality Penny Lebyane, who is a host of SABC 2’s popular talk show “Motswako”, revealed what many South Africans wouldn’t have expected from her.

The vivacious Lebyane was interviewed on her show on Monday night where she was able to speak about her life and the time she tried committing suicide because of her divorce.

She also spoke openly in an interview with Sowetan, saying that she had a contractual dispute with Metro FM at the same time that her marriage was ending.

“I had to move out of our home with a 30-day old child. I had nowhere to go except to live with my parents in Soweto,” she said.

“I had to take my other four-year-old son out of school to live at home with my mother. I relied on lifts because I had no car, it was hard.

“The breakdown made me contemplate suicide.”

Lebyane hopes that speaking openly about her hardship will help many others out there and that they may learn from her experiences.