Social media influencer and reality TV star, Lasizwe. Picture: Instagram.
Popular digital content creator and reality TV star Lasizwe Dambuza recently featured on the “Spreading Humour” podcast, where he dished out some sound advice, spoke about living under his sister Khanyi Mbau’s shadow and his failed attempts at finding love.
The social media influencer, who turned 26 on July 19, told the podcast co-hosts that he was “getting old”.
Speaking about his journey in the industry, he said: “I started seven years ago on Facebook. I used to upload a lot of things ... I was random, wearing my mom’s wigs since like 11-years-old.
“I’ve been going for auditions, from the moment I found out my sister is Khanyi Mbau, so I was inspired, and till this day, I never ever landed a role from auditions, I’ve never had a call back... All the shows that I’ve acted on, I come as ‘Lasizwe’.
He shared that it was difficult for him to get support at home.
“I grew up in Soweto ... Being gay at that time was still like taboo, the only person that was like a gay icon was Somizi (Mhlongo), so we were only looking up to that one icon. And, literally, people where talking crap about him ...
“My mom was a community leader so like she could not have a gay child, it was really really tough,” he said.
When asked how he managed to stay relevant in the industry, the “Lasizwe: Fake It Till You Make It” reality star said that it was because he genuinely loved what he did.
“There’s a big difference between doing something for the money and doing something for the passion.”
About living in his sister’s shadow, he said he never really felt like he needed to keep up with her, “I was pretty lucky to build my own name from the beginning, and not be known as Kanyi Mbau’s brother. People only found out later, like two years into me becoming famous, and that just added to the resume.”
Spilling the tea on his relationship with actor Cedric Fourie, Lasizwe said that the two had a great “celebrity relationship” and were building their friendship behind the scenes.
Lasizwe admitted that although Fourie was heterosexual, he did have intentions at the time.
“I was hoping that the friendship would tip over, but that hurt me in the long run...”
Speaking about another controversial friendship, he said: “Mohale Motaung and I have a very interesting story of how we built to get along with each other.
“There’s a difference between being in a relationship with someone and dating someone.
“Dating someone is getting to know someone. You going on dates, you putting your best foot forward, being in a relationship with someone, is compromising, showing signs of affection, and you have a common goal on what you both building.
“So, I was dating Mohale, not in a relationship with him.
“The moment we realised we started to like each other, the public got involved and things went south very very quickly.”
Watch the full podcast below: