Three from Port Elizabeth vie for top TV presenter slots

In about five weeks you could be waking up to a fresh Port Elizabeth face gracing your television set in the mornings.

That is if any of the three Nelson Mandela Bay contestants in the Presenter Search on 3 top eight make it all the way to the finish line.

The city’s Kuhle Adams, 23, Thato Moshoeshoe, 20, and Olwethu Nodada, 34, have secured spots in the search for two new presenters to join SABC 3’s Expresso live morning show.

Nelson Mandela University bachelor’s degree in education, economics and accounting student and the youngest contestant in the show, Moshoeshoe is no stranger to the industry.

His presenting career started when he moved from his hometown of Matatiele to study in Port Elizabeth and he joined NMU campus radio, Madibaz Radio.

He joined Bay TV as a presenter on the show Boys’ Night Out and, recently, Kingfisher FM as host of the show #FillUp.

This is his third try for the prized SABC spot on the show and he hopes to make it to the top after having reached the top six in 2018.

“It’s very exciting for me but I’m aware that I have to pull up my socks every single time because the fewer people, the tougher the competition becomes,” Moshoeshoe said.

“It’s been a challenging experience, even though I have been presenting for a while, because you really have to think on your feet and be able to adjust in an extremely short period of time.”

He said he would complete his degree in Cape Town should he win the competition.

Born and bred in the Bay, Adams thanked her lucky stars after she was voted onto the show by the public, although she did not make the cut into the top 10.

After the top 10 were chosen by celebrity judges Musa Mthombeni, Thando Thabethe and Roger Goode, five other contestants, including Adams, were invited back for the audience to choose one to make the top 11 and Adams was the ultimate viewers’ choice.

“When I didn’t make it into the top 10 I was sad but I didn’t want to wallow in it for too long and when I was given another opportunity I took it as a chance to prove not only to the judges but to myself why I deserve to be here,” Adams said.

Just like Moshoeshoe, the experience is all too familiar for Adams, who made it to the top three of the MTV Base VJ Search in 2017.

The youngster has also held down several presenting gigs in the Mother City while studying at the University of Cape Town.

While different in its own way, Presenter Search on 3 is a reminder of the VJ Search days for Adams.

“Listen, having made it so close to the finish line on VJ

Search and still not getting it really hurt, but in that process I did learn that things happen for a reason and there’s a time for everything.

“Because I know the disappointment of not winning and the process of trying to be here again, I am in it [this competition] to win it,” Adams said.

Not only is Nodada gunning to be SA’s newest TV presenter, she is also in the top 25 contestants of the Tammy Taylor Mrs South Africa pageant.

Should she win Presenter Search On 3, Nodada will not need to worry about relocating to another province because she recently moved from Port Elizabeth to Somerset West with her family.

The real estate associate has no previous experience as a presenter but has managed to make it this far – and that for her is worth celebrating, she said.

“Being in the top eight of Presenter Search is exciting and affirming and validating. It is possible to do something new at this age,” she said.

“I’m just an ordinary woman dreaming big dreams and chasing them fearlessly.

“Also, I’m a mom and, to me, affirming, inspiring and empowering the girl child is important,” she said.

On this week’s episode, the top eight contestants will do a takeover of Expresso, to prove that they are capable of being the show’s next addition. The season two winners will be announced on October 30.

Presenter Search on 3 airs on Wednesdays at 7.30pm on SABC 3, with a repeat on Saturdays at 1pm.