Lunga Shabalala (born 22 May 1989), is a South African actor, TV presenter and model. He rose to fame as a presenter on the SABC 1 entertainment and variety TV show, ''Selimathunzi''. He got his first acting role on the soap opera '' The River,'' which he currently stars on.

Early life

Lunga was born and raised in Pietermaritzburg. He attended Maritzburg College. While he was at the school, he was classmates with now South African actor, Zenzelisphesihle Xulu and singer Mario Ogle. Upon completing his schooling, he completed a diploma in Town planning. As he later stated, this was not the career for him.

Career

Lunga moved to

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

to work in the television industry. His first job was in a

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

commercial. In August 2010, he entered a

Calvin Klein Calvin Richard Klein (born November 19, 1942) is an American fashion designer. In 1968, he launched the company that later became Calvin Klein. In addition to clothing, he has also given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and jewellery. ...

modeling competition called Represent South Africa. He won the competition, garnering public attention. He then broke into television. In 2011, he entered the nationwide search for the next presenter of ''Selimathunzi'', a competition launched to replace Kaos Matu, as he had left the show. He won the competition and was chosen as the next ''Selimathunzi'' presenter. His celebrity status was confirmed when he was included in the 2011 list of ''Cosmopolitan'' sexiest hunks calendar. In 2013 he appeared in the entertainment countdown show ''10 over 10''. Later that year he was chosen as a co-presenter on

SABC 1 SABC 1 is a South African public television network operated by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). It broadcasts programming in English and Nguni languages. SABC 1 was established in 1996 following the SABC's restructuring of it ...

's official New Year's Eve show ''Come Duze''. He presented the annual show for 3 years. In 2014, he was chosen as a co-presenter on the

SABC 3 SABC 3, also branded as S3, is a South African free-to-air television channel owned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). Since March 2024, it carries programming in English and Afrikaans only. History On 1 January 1982, two tel ...

reality TV show, ''Man Cave'' alongside Janez Vermeiren. The show presents male contestants competing in male-themed adventurous tasks. He remained as official co-host for all six seasons of the show, ending in 2017. In February 2015, he appeared on the South African version of ''

Celebrity Masterchef ''MasterChef'' is a British competitive cooking reality show produced by Endemol Shine UK and Banijay and broadcast in 60 countries around the world. The show initially ran from 1990 to 2001 and was revived in 2005 as ''MasterChef Goes Large' ...

South Africa'', inspired by the hit Australian reality TV show of the same name. In June 2016, he was chosen to co-host the red carpet at 2016

South African Music Awards The South African Music Awards (often simply the SAMAs) are the Recording Industry of South Africa's music industry awards, established in 1995. The ceremony is held annually, usually in late April or May, with the judging process starting in ...

at the Durban International Convention Centre, alongside

Bonang Matheba Bonang Dorothy Matheba (born 25 June 1987), is a South African television presenter, radio personality, actress and social media personality. She is known for her flamboyant presenting skills and her signature voice. She presented the SABC 1 m ...

and

Pearl Modiadie Pearl Modiadie (born December 29, 1987) is a South African television presenter, radio DJ, actress and producer best known to TV audiences for presenting the SABC1 music talk show Zaziwa. Life and career 1987-2009: Early life and education Pea ...

. In 2017, he announced that he would leave his role as co-presenter on ''Selimathunzi''. His last broadcast was on 28 November 2017. In 2018, he made his debut acting role of Lindani, on

M-net M-Net (an abbreviation of Electronic Media Network) is a South African pay television channel established by Naspers in 1986. The channel broadcasts both local and international programming, including general entertainment, children's series, ...

original production, ''The River'' aired on Dstv's 1Magic channel. From early 2021 to the show’s end in September 2022, he played Sims Zulu on the

M-Net M-Net (an abbreviation of Electronic Media Network) is a South African pay television channel established by Naspers in 1986. The channel broadcasts both local and international programming, including general entertainment, children's series, ...

original production ''

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''''.''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shabalala, Lunga 1989 births Living people South African television presenters