The women of Young, Famous and African!

Zari was powerful in the show, she is unapologetic. [Courtesy] 

Young, Famous and African! You’ve probably eavesdropped on people having lazy talk about this. People are happy about it, one, because they love the drama, two, because it is the first-ever unscripted African reality show that has brought together African stars, showcases culture, affluence, style, great sounds and breathtaking views and promising careers. It’s a whole package of the African celebrity social scene.

The series is centred on the intimate space of celebrities from around Africa. The Netflix top-rated series captures the intrigues of everyday life of celebrity friends who come together in South Africa.

The show features a male and female cast, but it is the women who make it tick. The men are South African TV personality Andile Ncuba, Tanzanian music star Diamond Platnumz, Nigerian celebrity fashion stylist Swanky Jerry (Jeremiah Ogbodo), South African deejay Naked DJ (Quinton Masina) and Nigerian music star 2Baba.

And now the women, the real stars of the show.

Affluence is what you spot from the first scene, our opening character is Khanyi Mbau. She is a South African actress, TV personality and artiste, Khanyi is portrayed as the magnet of the show, she brings people together.

The show is anchored from Khanyi’s perspective, Khanyi desires to be big, she is big, but Khanyi finds her solace in acting like the protagonist of the group. Nothing goes past her, she acts like a very caring friend, when in the sense she is just finding her way into people’s lives, but she is guarded.

Khanyi finds strength in having her friends rely on her.

Khanyi is nosy, she’d make a dope gossip writer.

Zari Hassan, is portrayed as an antagonist, a problematic person who walks in and the mood changes, at least that’s what some of the other group members thought.

Zari was powerful in the show, she is unapologetic, and that made some of the women insecure about themselves thus the unwarranted hate.

She is also stubborn, she is self-aware and thus cannot stoop low, “If I am up here, why not try to catch up with me instead of trying to pull me down to your level,” she said.

Nigerian actress Annie Idibia. [Instagram]

The character I felt sorry for, Annie Macaulay Idibia.  She goes on and on about how her husband 2Baba has put her through hell in her marriage.

Everything around Annie is as confusing as it comes, one minute she is happy jumping around like a kid who just walked into a candy shop, the next minute she is venting to anyone that comes her way.

She looks like she has too much going on. She looks like someone who is looking for someone to affirm her marriage, which seems to be on the rocks.

But South African rapper Nadia Nakai is a misplaced character, she technically wouldn’t exist without Khanyi.

Nadia is a pawn in this series, she rides on waves.

Kayleigh Schwark is the most collected of all the ladies.

While she knows what to say, how to say it and when to be on the edge, Kayleigh has issues with her relationship.

She is portrayed as an awfully clingy person, in her mission to salvage her relationship with Naked DJ, she paints an image that depicts her as someone who is clueless and doesn’t know how to read the signs of boredom from her partner.