Cape Town - Nearly a week after TV presenter Katlego Maboe made his return to Espresso, he opened up about his journey of digging up who he really is and confronting his own choices.
In an interview with Khanya ‘kyeezi’ Siyengo and The Great Drive team on Good Hope FM, Maboe opened up about past setbacks and the way forward for him.
“It’s good to feel alive again and to be slowly but surely feeling like myself and walking into the acceptance of who I am and who I want to be,” said Maboe.
Elaborating on “feeling alive”, Maboe said that there was a time that he didnt.
“There was a time I was just all masked up, hoodied up, capped up because I wanted to take a walk (on the promenade) for health reasons and to get my mental health back. I didn’t want to engage with people the way that I used to. I was the person that loved putting smiles on people’s faces even if it’s just with a ‘hey, how are you doing’. I didn’t want any of that because I didn’t know how to mean it anymore. when I talk about feeling alive again, I talk about that connection with myself and the person that I know I am,” he said.
Maboe said the proverbial rug was pulled from under him and he had to do some introspection and soul searching and to figure out who he really is.
When asked if there was any point he regretted being famous, Maboe said he didn’t as it wasn’t the crux of the issue.
“Yes, it was unfortunate that my personal life was made public fodder and that is what you sign up for to a certain extent when you step into this industry. It was more about myself and facing up to the decision that I made and say to myself ‘That was a weakness of character’.
“I am not going to make any excuses for myself for those things. In hindsight, it’s like that had to happen in my life for me to find who I truly am,” he said.
He compares his journey to a precious metal that has to go through fire to be purified.
He said that because his then two-year-old son needed him to be the best father he can be, his son "without a doubt“ saved his live.
The 35-year-old was suspended from the show and dropped by an insurance company’s advertisements after his now ex-girlfriend, Monique Muller, accused him of abuse in 2020.
Monique had claimed that the presenter had abused her, cheated on her and infected her with an STI.
A two-year-long legal battle between Muller and Maboe was dismissed in court earlier this year.
IOL