A couple of weeks ago ZAlebs had the opportunity to interview Joop! Homme Ultimate Ambassador Lunga Shabalala, this week we’re lucky enough to interview yet another gorgeous potential ambassador.  We’re talking about none other than business entrepreneur and model Masego Maps Maponyane.

How did Joop Homme get in contact with you as an idea to run this competition?

Well Joop Homme is quite big in Europe however they realised that they didn’t have much of a presence in South Africa and although they quietly sell like thirty to fifty thousand bottles a year people don’t really know what Joop! Homme is.  Although it’s one of the biggest selling fragrances in Europe, they really wanted to have a huge impact here also.

So they were trying to figure out how and who would be the right person to match and represent the brand and after some extensive research and the process of going through many candidates they were finally left with two people.  I got the call, they broke it down to me as to what they were planning on doing with the brand. I was obviously elated and interested in being a part of this campaign, funny enough only about 2 months later I only found out who was the other potential ambassador candidate (Lunga) and here we are battling it out together.

Speaking about Lunga, we like how you guys play it safe in terms of the competitiveness of this campaign.  Was that the plan from the get go?

Honestly it’s exactly that.  To be frank with you, it’s an uphill challenge for me to be up against a guy like Lunga Shabalala.  He’s done such a great job in the TV industry and also has such a big following on social media and that’s something he’s respectfully earned.  So I think at the end of the day it’s about who’s going to have the most loyal supporters who are just going to vote consistently.  

In my tweets I’ve even requested people to vote for me ONLY if they feel that I’d be best suited to be the ambassador for the brand.  And if you think Lunga would be the best man suited for the job then by all means vote for him so it really is just mutual opponent respect and good clean competition between him and me.  If it’s meant for you I don’t think you have to try and buy votes but then again anything can happen, I didn’t think I’d win Cosmopolitan’s sexiest man title as I was against people like Chad Le Clos who had like thousands of followers but I managed to get win that. Ultimately at the end it’s all about if the public views you as a potential candidate for the product.

Are you surprized at the great work “Team Maps” has been doing in ensuring you get those votes?

The work that Team Maps has been putting out has become so humbling to me.  First of all it’s really awkward for me to even hash tag Team Maps but people have just been so supportive of the entire movement.  My team has even made Team Maps t-shirts and bangles and I say this with a huge smile on my face because it’s really a beautiful thing and I honestly don’t know how I’ve gotten to this position where I’ve garnered so much love for what I do.  Team Maps I thank you.

Some people view you as the ultimate alpha male in the entertainment industry.  Do you ever feel pressure in living up to that title?

I’ve always believed that if I always stick to my guns and just ride in my own lane I’ll have nothing to feel pressured about.  I’ve been very fortunate that all of this time I’ve managed to do my work and still remain true to myself, it’s a formula that has worked for me very well.  My focus is to always ensure that Maps stays true to himself and also ensure that I do my work as professionally as possible.  People can see when you’re not being yourself and like I’ve said being myself has worked out very well hence I feel no pressure from the outside to be what I’m not.

Make sure you stay tuned for our part 2 interview with Maps.