A number of specially selected South African households look set to become the
country’s latest reality stars when Gogglebox South Africa premiers on
Thursday, 3 March 2016 at 21:00, on the Sony Channel (DStv channel 127).
A diverse mix of South African’s will be represented on the show where we are
invited into ordinary people’s living rooms. Introducing some of Gogglebox’s households:
• Portuguese married couple Travis and Giselle both share the same
professional interest as online content producers. This couple is bold and
entertaining. Their strong connection as a couple will be tested as this couple don’t
always see eye-to-eye.
• Valentine and Melissa enjoy spending their time doing the simple things in life
as a couple – having dinner and drinks in front of the TV. Valentine, a make-up sales
rep, and Melissa, a home executive, share their time with their three year old son.
• Best friends Eslina and Mirriam have been by each other’s side since the age
of 15. Eslina is a home executive, while Mirriam is a domestic worker. They are
entertaining, open and honest, with the best sense of humour.
• Sisters Tamzin and Adele describe themselves as fun, loud and opinionated.
Tamzin is a dance teacher and Adele is a relationship executive. The sisters enjoy
spending time together but don’t always agree on what to watch.
Gogglebox South Africa is Sony Pictures Television Networks’ first locally commissioned South African television series. The featured households will openly voice their unscripted opinions about what they are watching on the box – whether on politics, sport, news, reality TV or the latest dramas – from the comfort of their living rooms.
This topical show is filmed seven days before the episode airs, allowing viewers to
observe the households watching the week’s TV shows, encouraging up-to-date and at times controversial discussions.
The ten part local version has been commissioned by the Sony Channel and will be
produced by partners Eject Media’s, Stephan Le Roux and Picture Tree’s Gary King.
Executive producer Stephan Le Roux says, “We believe that we have created a show that will create debate among people. Gogglebox South Africa reflects the current state of society and will stimulate viewers to share their opinions and thoughts. We hope that it will also inspire more channels to make programmes in the local marketplace.’
On its debut in the UK, Gogglebox soon became a word-of-mouth hit
that had the Twittersphere buzzing and has resulted in numerous spin-offs in
countries around the world with popular editions made in the US, Canada, Australia,
Italy, Israel, Poland, Finland, France, Norway, China and the Ukraine. And now
South Africa is to get its own home-grown version.
Gogglebox airs every Thursday, 21h00, on the Sony channel (DStv
channel 127).
