On Saturday, 27 October you will see me in action on Dinner Divas, SABC 2 or for those with Dstv Channel 192 @ 8.30am.
I was as nervous as hell at the prospect of exposing myself to the whole of South Africa. Nervous of the cameras – don’t we all hate seeing ourselves packing on another 5 kilos when we are already overweight? Seeing every imperfection of ourselves on these modern day large format TV screens? What would my first school boyfriend (Hennie Theron) think seeing what I look like now? How would I measure up to the extreme and grueling challenges of breakfast TV? Would I be able to show my abilities and keep my nerve on camera, focus on thinking clearly and not strike a blank – well, let’s be honest here….not to make my name ass? And what about the thing we all don’t want to hear – criticism – to be criticised by amazing chefs and food people for something you love to do – for something you think you are good at?
Gathering the courage to enter Dinner Divas took a lot of guts as I had to overcome so many of my own personal fears. Before I entered, I had all these negatives in my head – I did not want to do it because I did not want to feel hurt or feel exposed… yet I decided to face my fears with the support of my biggest fan, my amazing husband Rick.
The great thing was that I could take my blog with me – I was not alone. I am so proud of this little blog of mine – lifeisazoobiscuit. It brought me out of a deep depression and I wanted to see how much further this blog could lead me in life.
Can you actually believe that this blog took me out of the depths of depression? Throughout my whole life I had been searching for that “thing” that would make me happy – I have always been fortunate enough to have been successful in my career but there was still this thing – I wasn’t ever happy with myself, with me who I was and who I am and all that I had achieved so far – something was missing. To counter all these negativities I would eat and then I would gain weight … go on diet … and then the whole vicious cycle would begin again. You see I love food but then again I hate it as well – it is my passion and my poison. But through it all and more than anything I wanted to prove myself to my mom, my brothers, my family, my friends how good I was with food, thinking about food, working with food, for putting flavours together and everything else. I tried to start a restaurant, I did my own deli range at the local markets … but at the end it all just faded away again …
But then earlier this year, again in the midst of a very deep and lonely depression I started eating (againJ) zoo biscuits … a week later on 12th April 2012 still eating zoo biscuits I woke up and decided I needed to write about food … and the blog lifeisazoobiscuit was born. Well, since then nothing has been the same.
lifeisazoobiscuit gave me the chance to appear on Dinner Divas and I recall that I did not sleep the night before we started the first shoot. When I arrived on set for make-up, the producer of the show Anne Myers just looked at me once and said “on the coach lady, legs up under the cushions, and bring the tea bags”. I realised then and there that I was in good hands and although nervous and insecure as all hell, I knew it was going to be one of the most exhilarating days of my life. 20 minutes later I met Barry. How on earth was I going to compete against this big huggy bear of a man?
Watch me this Saturday on SABC 2 overcoming my fears + making very good friends with one of the most amazing men I know!
Carpe Diem.
Yes yes yes. I just looked at your blog and it is BEAUTIFUL! I love it – you had me with the simplicity pic of the kaftan and then your grandma’s rusks – I still need to read it. Please keep writing – keep blogging! 🙂 A
Beautiful poignantly honest writing.
Inspired me to resume blogging http://padkos-thejourneyhome.blogspot.co.uk .
That feels scarey! You might look at it and tell me not to bother.
But like you I have a strong need to write and feel empty and depressed if I don’t. Even if no-one else reads it.
Thank you,
Warm regards
Noelle
Dankie vir die wonderlike woorde Pierre! Thanks for your wonderful friendship and continuous inspiration and support – you are my bangkok food buddy! Hope to see you soon x
CARPE DIEM ! Indeed. Moenie worry nie, South Africa will LOVE you. There is something irresistible about your passion and people will instantly pick up on this.
As for that school boyfriend, rest assured, if he did not turn out gay, he is most probably leading a very dull middle aged life in a beige house somewhere not far away from Wepener. In the unlikely event that he did turn out gay, he is probably quite impressed with your fabulous rise to stardom!
Again – you put yourself out there and seized the day. Whats not to like ???
My dear friend … i remember that day so well! The two of us in tears and the only thing we wanted was fatty take-aways! hehehe love you too!
OMG………….Anel, what a raw and honest account of something which I can so identify with!!!! You are amazing and I am so grateful I got to meet you. Just had a recollection of us getting take-aways in the midst of another downer relating to food………………and what did we turn to……FOOD! Love you
Thanks Partner! It was a pleasure and honour to cook with you too! See you Saturday in the kitchen 🙂
Wow, what a beautifully written post, so honest so you. It was a pleasure and honour to cook with you and against you, and I hope we will still cook together a lot.
Barry
(Potjie)
Dankie Zirkie! Looking forward to your show too! 🙂
I cannot wait to see you (and Barry) in action and I am looking forward to see what you cooked. I am still very nervous to see myself on air, but I guess it is way to late now! Hugs to you!
Thanks Tami! Hope to see you soon.
Thanks Sam!
Thanks Princess! 😉
Thanks so much for your lovely words.
A very honest post. We don’t all have the guts to share those fears and challenges. You do. Look forward to seeing you on Saturday’s Divas.
Well done Anel! The #Chickthatchow are so proud of you!
Anel, you are such an inspiration to me. You are truly living your dream. Not many people, take the leap of faith. You are a Rock star and you look amazing. #yoursecondbiggestfan!
Jy is n natural
Well done for everything you have overcome. I am looking forward to your episode with Barry most out of the whole series. Good luck for Saturday. May all your dreams come true xx
Dankie Ken!
Dankie Nins!
Thanks so much Sam! Hope to see you soon x
You are a striking, beautiful woman. On or off TV you will always be amazing! X
Hi, Nig,
Ek is trots om te se jys my niggie. Moenie worry oor Saterdag nie. Jy is goed in wat jy doen.
Ek is net so gefrustreerd – ek sal dit nie kan sien nie. Ons het kennis gekry dat daar aan ons krag gewerk gaan word in die hele area en dit gaan af wees van 6 in die oggend tot 6nm! Geen sport, geen Ontbytsake, geen Dinner Divas nie – RAMP!
Sterkte – dit sal goed met jou gaan.
Groete.
Cannot wait to see you in action, you will be fab!