Youtube sensation-turned-media personality, Thulasizwe 'Lasizwe' Dambuza is taking major strides within the entertainment industry – securing the bag and climbing up the trending ladder, while he's at it.
Although Lasizwe has on countless occasions been trolled and questioned about the originality of his content, the announcement that he was about to be the first person to have a local reality TV show on MTV brought attention to the groundbreaking moves he’s made within the digital space in such a short space of time.
On Monday evening, I attended the launch of his Lasizwe: Fake It Till You Make It reality show at Rockets in Bryanston, where a few people got the opportunity to preview the first episode.
Prior to the viewing, Dambuza expressed his gratitude to his team, family and celebrity friends including Ayanda MYP (who was the host), K Naomi and Nadia Nakai.
Instagram embed
Reflecting on the various rejections him and his team received while in pursuit of getting a reality show, the Fanta ambassador went on to add that he's grateful to have his dream come true. He said:
“I’ve always wanted a reality show, it has always been a dream, I’ve always seen myself as a Kardashian...I’ve always had this vision of documenting my life, to share it with everyone I see and have on Instagram, my Insta’ stories are like a documentary."
Out of all the whimsical characters that he portrays on his social platforms, he said that his reality show was putting the spotlight on his life, and giving his fans a side of him they’ve never seen.
“My reality show isn’t just a typical reality show about the lavish lifestyle, we popping Fanta...so its more of a side of me that you’ve never seen…”
Apart from his comical bashes to his hometown, Pimville and references to his sister – after mentioning that he wanted to grow a brand of his own without being linked to his celebrity sister Khanyi Mbau – there are a number of other things about the reality show that I noticed and liked.
During the commentary inserts, Lasizwe spoofs familiar backdrops which you’ll remember from other reality shows. The first episode uses the pink backdrop that Bonang Matheba uses on Being Bonang.
As the new Fanta Teen Marketing Director, Lasizwe has been promoting the brand on his platforms, which receive over 10 000 views. And now he also brings the brand association on his reality.
Lasizwe has found his name being dragged on social media and has also made headlines on various occasions. He comically speaks on the controversial topics surrounding his brand on the show.
Lasizwe has undeniably become a force to be reckoned with. At just the age of 20, the media personality has international brands like Viacom and Fanta behind his brand. Just as he said: “We’re international, baby!”
"I appreciate that we not seeing Lasizwe with wigs, I appreciate that we getting to know better about his life, I want it to get more real, I want to see if we gonna realyy gonna see his love life, was the thing with Cedric just a stunt...there's so many questions, and I think watching the first episode makes me wanna see more and I think that's what you want from the show...it's gonna show Africa in a different light, and I'm here for the entertainment."
"I wanted to watch more and more and more, especially after the sequal. I've watched so many reality shows...what we saw on TV is the Lasizwe that we see in person, so it was beautiful, shout out."
Olwee, director of Fake I Till You Make it, commented:
"The opportunity here was that Lasizwe is so known for his Youtube videos that I had the opprtunity to etract from what you guys know as reality, usually I work on personalities that have already shown their personality's so this time is was an opportunity to teach people about Lasizwe as opposed to amplying what's already known."
