“Young, Famous and African” is Netflix’s first original African reality television show and many Nigerians will be tuning in to see what Annie Macaulay-Idibia gets up to. The cast also includes; Khanyi Mbau, a South African actress, musician and television presenter; Andile Ncube, a South African radio host and TV personality; Nadia Nakai a rapper and TV personality; Zari Hassan, a Ugandan socialite and her former partner, Diamond Platnumz; a Tanzanian artiste.
The first episode showed some promise but the series soon went down hill. First, Annie revealed that she was in South Africa to “expand her empire.” Secondly, it was moving to hear of the struggles of her second daughter, Olivia.
While reality television shows of the nature tend to be frivolous, “Young, Famous and African” failed to show the audience why the cast is famous. Except for Diamond Platinumz, it seemed like the others had no work and just took turns to host parties, with their expectedly over-the-top costumes and make-up. Unfortunately, the series lacks substance.
Still, if you’re like the writer that we wanted to know more about Annie, a woman who has lived under the shadow of her husband for so long despite having her own career as she rightly pointed one you may want to see it to the end. Sadly, “Young, Rich and Famous” did not do Annie justice. Rather, there was a lot of emphasis on Annie’s relationship with 2Baba, which most Nigerians are already familiar with. We wanted more, to know Annie Idibia, not 2Baba’s wife and why she was in South Africa.
It is also hard to understand how Andile seemingly connected with Annie and empathised with her when he is guilty of the same sin as 2Baba – he has several baby mamas too! And despite being shocked when Annie saw Andile’s baby mamas attending the same party, it is surprising that she never raised it with him.
Though “reality TV series” are somewhat scripted, “Young, Famous and African” is too unnatural. However, we quite liked Zari. She is confident, classy and consistent and may be another reason you stay tuned.
