10 Things You Didn’t Know about Khanyi Mbau
Khanyi Mbau is quite famous in South Africa where she spends much of her time on television and on the radio. She’s one of the most famous hosts in both industries where she is from, and she thoroughly enjoys her job. Her career is important to her, and she’s been involved in the business for well over a decade. She began acting in 2004, trying her hand at many different aspects of television before she finally settled on one that worked for her, which is hosting. She’s the kind of woman that most women look up to and want to be more like when they ‘grow up’ and for good reason; Khanyi Mbau is inspiring, and we thought that it was time to get to know her a bit more.
Her full name is not Khanyi
When Khanyi Mbau was born, her father named her. He chose a name that is not one we are sure we pronounce correctly, but it’s beautiful nonetheless. Her full name is Khanyisile, and it means “one who brings light,” and her father felt that the name would suit her perfectly. She doesn’t use her full name all too often, but she does like it and appreciate what it means to her in her life.
She’s in her 30s
Khanyi Mbau is in her 30s, but she only just began. Her birthday is October 15, 1985. She is ready to celebrate her 31st birthday in the coming weeks. We don’t know if she’s one of the women who is horrified to reach her 30s and bid adieu to her 20s, but we have to believe she is not. Wise women know that aging is a beautiful thing, and that you only get better the longer you are around. She’s a lovely woman, and she doesn’t seem to be aging poorly, so there should be no problem with her birthday.
She was an accident
We don’t say that to be rude by any means, but it does happen. When her mother became pregnant, she was merely dating the father of her child. She was working to climb her way up the corporate ladder at Barclays, and she was a real go-getter. Her career was her first and foremost focus and she didn’t have the time to focus on anything else. She was pregnant, however, and she gave birth to her daughter and made the decision to try and make both work for her.
She has her mother’s last name
When she was born, she took on her mother’s last name since her parents were not married at the time. Her mother was a very ambitious young woman when she became pregnant with her daughter, and she wanted her daughter to take on some of her power. She thought that by providing her with her own last name might help her feel more powerful, and it also made sense considering the fact that she was not married to her daughter’s father when she gave birth to her daughter.
She was raised by her grandparents
As we mentioned above, Khanyi’s mother was a corporate ladder climber with big career aspirations. She was a good mom to her daughter, but she wanted to focus on her job so she gave her daughter to her parents and asked them to essentially raise her while she worked. They did just that, and she loved living with her grandparents most of the time. She states that her grandmother was like the Queen of England in running her household, and that she was wonderful and had very high expectations.
She attended a school where the other girls were all white
When she began attending a very upscale school in South Africa, she was the only girl of color in her classes. The school was known for being an all-white school, but the founder of the school wanted to mix the races a bit and welcomed her with open arms. She enjoyed her schooling, but she noticed right away that she was not a blonde with blue eyes as most of her classmates were. She made friends, she did well, and she had fun growing up in the Flock on Eloff Street.
She began acting in soaps
It was 2004 when Khanyi Mbau was given her first television role on a show called “Muvhango,” which is a South African soap opera. She actually replaced an actress who was already portraying a character on the show after her boyfriend shot her in the face and she was unable to return to work. She loved the role, and she was good at what she did.
She is a party girl
Unfortunately, Khanyi Mbau really loved her new role as a famous face. She was already a bit of a model and a socialite going into her role, but being easily recognized and famous made her very happy. She spent much of her time out and about on the weekends and even on work nights partying. She loved the club scene and could usually be found wherever there were cameras and there was fun to be had.
She was fired from her first role
Her partying was not something that her bosses on television were happy about when she was in her first television role. They noticed that she seemed to be in all the gossip tabloids and in all the papers every single weekend for her hard-partying ways, and they were not impressed by that. They ended up firing her after only a year of being with the soap, and she was not happy about it.
She’s a reality star, too
After she lost her first job, she gained many more. Some of those jobs were with reality television. She performed on a dancing competition as well as a lip-syncing competition. She did not win the dance competition, but she did take home the trophy in her role as a lip-syncer. She’s just a woman who likes to have a good time, and she’s unapologetic about it.
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