It felt like just yesterday when we were introduced to our favourite Armenian family, television powerhouses like Ryan Seacrest and Giuliana Rancic and our favourite Hollywood red carpet moments, but as the saying goes “Time flies when you’re having fun!”
A few weeks ago local celebrities and influencers got dressed to the nines for our very own E! Africa Pop Culture Awards, celebrating 15 Years of the channel in Africa.
The party was hosted by Bonang Matheba who of course took home Africa’s Ultimate Pop Culture icon award and the dapper Kat Sinivasan, who we got a chance to catch up with.
Katleho Sinivasan rose to fame as a presenter on shows such as YOTV and Mzansi Insider an actor on SABC 1’s Mutual Friends and My Perfect Family and as a singer but got his real big break in 2017 when he became the first ever African face of E!
“It’s amazing! I have always said it has always been a dream of mine to be part of the powerhouse that is E! Which is incredible and celebrating 15 years means that local content will finally get its place on the network which is truly incredible,” he says.
“In the very first year I won and arrived at the E! Headquarters in LA, that was just the moment where everything was really materializing because I was walking into a studio that I’ve been watching for all these years and dreaming and fantasizing about.
Now I am hosting next to all these people that I have dreamt of meeting, I think that is the moment where it all became real.”
The television host has met and worked with E! Hosts such as Zuri Hall and Jason Kennedy during his trip to Hollywood and got to attend various red carpets and interviews for the original E! Pop Culture Awards.
Although the South African entertainment industry is making various strides, we rarely get it right when it comes to awards and red carpet looks possibly due to budget and brief, often sending twitter into overdrive over low quality red carpet images and dress.
“I don’t think we’re actually that far, at the end of the day it’s almost recreating something that has already been done and putting our own spin on it because we’re not recreating the wheel with red carpets,” the TV host explains.
“It is something that’s been done for years but it’s almost being able to focus on things like in South Africa most of our hosts aren’t just hosts and what I found in America is that they’re focused on one thing so you don’t get a host that is a Rock n’ Roll musician and an actor and a whole lot of things at the same time, so the focus on one craft kind of helps you perfect it so that’s what I took away from it but also just being humble is really important because it helps your delivery.
It helps you as a person, I think in South Africa we just need to relax and humble ourselves,” he laughs.
Although Sinivasan is regarded as a triple threat he is currently focussing on being the best television host he can be and is enjoying the journey.
He does not see himself getting a full time acting job or doing music for now.
“I’m still young I have time to explore all my talent but I want to do it all to the best of my abilities.”
The presenter who currently hosts How Do I Look South Africa, a show which is originally American and franchised into a South African format, has learnt a lot from the set and the way things should be done in television.
“There is a lot more preparation that goes into putting together a show than I ever imagined,”
“With How Do I Look the only thing I had to worry about is delivering my lines, I never had to deal with dressing myself or worry about finding a place or cameras or anything like that.”
He explains that in South African productions, talent is often required to micromanage the production themselves on top of learning and delivering a script.
Sinivasan’s career can truly be seen as something drawn on a vision board, personal, exact and truly a dream.
The idea of becoming the first E! Presenter from the African continent was something we never thought would be possible until it happened to him, showing us the age we live in of possibilities in the entertainment industry so we had to ask him his thoughts on #OpenUpTheIndustry.
“I think open up the industry is just a cry for help for artists who are not getting work and the reality about our job is that you don’t always have work so it’s just an inexperienced cry.”
“No one had to open up the industry for people who are in the industry to get jobs so I just kind of feel like people who understand what being a television personality is, knows that there are ups and downs and it comes with the territory so I just think open up the industry is a good chat for twitter, it keeps people engaged.”
The Talent has also been open about his struggles with anxiety especially being in the public eye.
Known for his debonair style, charming smile and laugh he is actually quite the introvert.
“I don’t go out much that’s how I manage my anxiety. I think the only time I’m out is when I need to be out and I know I have to show face for a purpose but in terms of my own personal time I promise you I’m such a homebody it’s literally just all I do.”
He emphasises that his job already requires him to be in challenging positions.
“I think there is an expectation from people who don’t know you personally but know you as a personality and if you’re putting yourself in a position where you know for a fact you’re going to encounter them I think it’s always best to indulge people,” he laughs.
“Instead of being perceived as a bad person rather don’t put yourself in that position when you’re not in the mood.”
The host has plans on creating more projects of his own and work that are quintessentially him, which of course will always include a fashion element.
Although local content on E! like How Do I Look is still new and the channel is still working under trial and error we hope to see more original South African productions but understand it may take some time for it to be comfortable enough, but until then we will enjoy our favourite Armenian family.
In light of that we had to ask
Who is your favourite Kardashian sister?
“Kimberly without a shallow of doubt, I call her by her full name because she is my sister,” he laughs.
