I had the privilege of finally meeting the person who made my childhood even more awesome and of cause was the reason for me waking up early every morning and rushing from school just to watch her on YO-TV, but now I’m loving her on MTV! Sade Giliberti truly shows her zest for life, her love for her career and I think that’s why people love her on their TV screens. She is the definition of Genesiqua!
A: How would you define yourself?
S: Yoh! That’s a hard one, people always ask me this question and I never really know how to answer it. Uhmm… I would say I’m Unique, I’m not a carbon copy of someone else, I’m definitely Unique, I’m not the same as someone else, I don’t feel like I’m a print or copy of someone else. I think I’m very unique, I’m a little bit crazy (giggles)
A: that’s good crazy (laughs)
S: I think I am a little bit crazy sometimes I would do things out of the norm, I’m a little bit of an extremist. I would say I’m a very giving person, I like offering up my time to people; to help out, and to listen, care and share and all of those kind of stuff. LOL I don’t know the usual friendly, nice, spicy, all the nice things chicken spice (laughs)
A: I get you (laughs). So what are the words you live by?
S: Peace, love and happiness. Because I believe that if there was peace in this world there would be more love, and if there’s more love there is more happiness. It’s just three simple words, but they can do a world of change. So that’s something that I hope the world is going to start living by.
A: I hope so too! What was your childhood like?
S: My Childhood was crazy; I had a little bit of a crazy Childhood, TV ads, modelling, presenting and all those kind of stuff. I started presenting at the age of 7, so I would say that side of life was a bit hectic for a kid. In general I did still have a childhood as much as I worked, I still had lots of time to be with my friends, be on the street, roller blading, biking, doing all of the crazy things. Climbing trees, having mulberry fights. I did it all; I still had time to be a child.
Uhmm… And then there’s the other side of the childhood that was not all that fun and happy. My mom and dad were never married. So my mom was a bit of a naughty one, so she did a lot of bad things and kind of didn’t have the filter to do it behind closed doors. So I was exposed to her lifestyle, I was exposed to everything. So that really affected my childhood. She was a little bit of a, mmm… How do you put it in nice words; she was a little bit of a hoe! So that affected my childhood like badly, I had insomnia, started suffering from depression. That side was mainly hectic, because nobody knows about it. If they saw me on TV I was ok you know. So I think that was really hectic. So I think I had like a three way childhood, the career, the childhood and then the other side. It felt like I was forced to grow up before my time, in the industry and also at home, which was a little bit hectic.
A: But through it all look where you are today.
S: that’s just it if I can inspire people at the end of the day, why not, because that just makes me stronger.
A: It’s not always roses…
S: Yes it’s not always roses, if you can overcome the difficult things in your life, than you stronger than you actually think you are. You don’t know how strong you are, until you get to a point, and you actually overcome it. And have that WOW moment. All of that just happened to me and I’m still here.
A: You actually inspiring me right now because I look at my honours year and I just think its crap (laughs)
S: Look how far you are, you would be shooting yourself in the foot if you decide to quit now.
A: So true! I know you as a YO-TV presenter, because those days I use to wake up at 6am to watch poppiekies (cartoons).
S: Poppiekies (laughs)
A: Is this where it all started for you?
S: Uhmm… as I explained I was a lot younger. So I only started working at YO-TV when I was 10 or 11 and then when I was 7 years old I did my first presenting; which was a Christian show, a Christian kid’s show. If you remember TV1 and mini-TV, my slot was literally a 5 minute show, and it was slotted at five minutes before three, just before mini-TV starts and literally we will be on for 5 seconds if not less (laughs). We would say today we will be going into the story of Ezekiel. It was awesome though, we had puppets that we would talk with, play with, it was already on green screen. So I was already learning stuff at the age of 7 that I don’t think most kids industry learned. So it was pretty nice to be a part of that generation of TV. Yes than we had the Galoobi’s, all of those kids are now presenters or not, but some of them are well known singers or actors.
A: I am telling you Sade, people use to wake up at 6am to watch TV, and now a days it’s like “ag we know it’s going to play the whole day on DSTV.” So it doesn’t really make a difference.
S: Exactly, and it would entertain us
A: TV had substance that time especially SABC.
S: I agree, it did have substance, I mean we were entertainers, even though we were so young and the same age we were all entertainers. People actually wanted to wake up in the morning. I worry about our children what are they going to wake up to? It’s horrible. I feel like our generation did something amazing and our kids will never get to see it.
A: That’s so true. So is this the kind of Career that you always wanted to pursue?
S: No, no, not really when I was a kid it was for fun I didn’t realise that this was something that I would have to do for the rest of my life. It was a fun time I was making friends, I was learning things. So no as I kid I went through, I want to be a doctor, than I wanted to be a fireman, than I wanted to be a policeman. Although I was very settle on being a doctor. My father was getting excited and he was like “there’s going to be a doctor in the family” and then I realised I can’t do maths! (Laughs)
A: (Laughs)
S: So that became a huge problem. Yet, my father was like” no you will conquer maths, no child of mine can’t do maths”. So I did the extra lessons and everything… Eventually I was just like ” Dad I’m going to fail”, just let me do the subjects that I’m good at “look I get 90% for history, let’s concentrate on that” So eventually I dropped maths and so the dream of becoming a doctor dropped as well, because I didn’t understand maths, I didn’t understand physics and science. So because I didn’t get those subjects, biology was not as easy for me. So that dream of Doctor was like puff! “Ok you not going to be a doctor hunny.” Then I went through a phase in my like when I wanted to be a Ninja, because I was a huge Bruce Lee fan, and I still am, I just thought I just want to kill people, kick all the bad asses, yeah! Be the hero! But obviously as I grew up I carried on with the TV stuff and I had YOTV. So than I was like, this in general the industry, because than I started working in production, I was like I can do this, I’ve been doing this, I don’t really know anything else so I may as well be this and excel at it. I’m not saying I don’t know how to do anything else, it’s just that I haven’t tried, this is what I concentrated on, I didn’t go out there and say “oh wow let me be an architect.” So it soon after became ok this is my career this is what I am going to do for the rest of my life whether it be production, whether it be on TV, you know all that kind of stuff, either way!
A: Perfect! So what’s a day in the life of Sade Giliberti like?
S: Like you do everything, and then you like chill, because the industry is so dependent, either something is happening or something is not. I don’t have a 9 to 5, because I went no I need me time to figure out what direction I’m I going to take next, business wise and all that kind of stuff. I don’t want to give my time to somebody else and then when I need to go do my thing, his going to be on “You’re on my clock!” So I was like no this year is “me time” and then next year, I am hitting it hard! So there are those days when nothing happens, than there are those days when I wake up in a flat panic, because I have too much to do all in one day, so its voice over after voice over, than its a meeting, than its a this and a that. A shoot at night, so than I’m just like “Arghh… Not today!” So really some days are all over the place, but I have those days when I can just chill, drive out and take pictures, be with my dogs, fix the house. You know do all the things that you want to do.
A: Oh so you love taking pictures?
S: I do, I did study photography, so I would like to call myself an amateur photographer. It’s a huge hobby of mine my father got me into it when I was a kid, so it just stayed. So I absolutely love taking photographs I just never have the time. So when I get the time I grab it.
A: It’s amazing, I believe in capturing moments.
S: It’s so important though, and sometimes the most random picture can tell so many different words.
A: That’s so true
S: You will look at it and interpret it differently; I will look at it and interpret it differently. It’s the simple things and that’s what I love about the passion.
A: What passion…
S: We have so much fun and on top of having fun we learn so much, we went through all the different phases, the different studio elements, so by the time I was 16. I was a freaking professional, I mean I knew everything I needed to know, there wasn’t nothing that I didn’t know about presenting, this style that style. Interview skills everything it was awesome we learned so much. We learned in presenting to still be characters. In the beginning of YOTV like Byrone was known as “blom, Simphiwe was known as “gappa” and in those nicknames we were characters that were our personalities. As much as I was Sade I was this little girl in character depicted by Sade. Then we learned talk shows, I learned game shows and then we did live; so if that didn’t push the passion for presenting than presenting was never for me.
A: What else have you done? I know you’ve done some acting, dancing and been on survivor. What were the experiences like?
S: So after YO-TV I went on leave, did So You Think You Can Dance! Not me, but they told me that they chose me because I was the best. So I was like take that and just ride it if people think that you are good, than go out there and show them how good you are. Then in that I worked in events, I worked for an events company, I did all over the place work and then I did in 2009 that was more about short films, working in the arts department; like I dipped my fingers in every part of the pie that I could. Like you can never stop learning. Than I was in 2010 on Survivor and I also won a SAFTA for best presenter. So that was an epic year for me winning the SAFTA is probably one of the biggest awards that we have in this country. Except they didn’t invite me…
A: ok…
S: Which was abit of a weird one for me. I was shooting a pilot in Hillbrow and I’m lying on the floor and I’m covered in fake blood, and everyone’s phones are beeping and I don’t know what’s going on but the SAFTA’s are on. Everybody’s like “Oh my gosh Sade you just won a SAFTA” and I was like “what do you mean I just won an award, what are you talking about?”. They were like I don’t know best presenter… I was like” what you talking about?” But that was an awesome experience. Then I was the face of Legit which was an awesome experience, because as a child I did a lot of modelling for Edcon, so it was nice to go back into the family and work with Edcon again. It was such an awesome experience travelling around the country, meeting all sorts of people, having a range and life size cut outs of you; it was a little bit acquired, because a lot of people would be like; “I just stole your cut out from Legit!” I was like dude come on. (Laughs) it was like weird and I was like dude come on… So that was a cool awesome experience. Then there was survivor… Which was hard-core! People don’t actually realise how real that show is. There is nothing fake about that show. Like I don’t care what the Americans do, in SA it is as real as real as real as real can be. It is Hard-core, scary, and emotional; it was all those things at the same time the most unbelievable experience I’ve ever had to encounter. Like the mental and internal growth that I got just from being on the show. I don’t think I will get from anywhere else. Like it was deep on so many levels. Like you wouldn’t eat for days, than you have sores and things biting you all sorts of creatures. Things biting you, than you have to do challenges at mid-day, when it is the hottest time of the day. All you been doing is drinking water, you weak, but it’s amazing how your adrenaline kicks in. Than the game comes in and the game is mind screwing. When you start realising that you actually playing a game, than it is real, I lost it! The whole time when I was on the island I was not thinking about the game, I was thinking about survival I was taking it 5 days at a time. I’m going five days and I’m going to push myself, if I can’t push myself, than I know that I am done. That’s how I did it five days intervals. When you merge after like 17 days, then I realised game on now its proper alliances, everyone is whispering and backstabbing! I lost it. That part of the game messed me up. But during this part of the game is where I became a stronger person.
A: Wow, and you made it far isn’t it?
S: I was fourth
A: Yoh… that must have been a learning experience?
S: Dude… I don’t think there’s anything else that could match up to that, I don’t think anything else will give me the same experience I had on Survivor. I really, really don’t, it’s just mind-blowing. I mean you on a small little island you open to the whole world, you don’t know what’s happening on the news, out there in the world, and you don’t know all you had was just what you had on.
A: What has been the highlight of your career?
S: Wow, I don’t have a complete highlight, I definitely think everything has built, I think everything has been a highlight for me. Like YO-TV is a massive highlight in my life, travelling overseas, travelling around the country, meeting so many amazing people, local artists, international artists. So you think you can dance is a highlight, it was my first adult show and it got me recognised even more as a presenter so that was definitely a highlight. Survivor a highlight, legit a highlight, winning the SAFTA highlight, now MTV is the biggest highlight! I feel like it just tests and they just get better and better and better.
I remember watching Cat Deeley on TV and I was like ahh I want to be like her! She is so cool! And I actually realised that Cat Deeley went from MTV UK to So You Think You can Dance, I went from So You Think You Can Dance to MTV SA!
A: Wow that’s amazing, so you see hard work and determination got you there:)
S: Definitely, I think if I have given up years ago none of this would have happened, so I’m glad I stuck it out. There has been moments when I thought why am I still here it’s tough, it’s hard, it’s full of fake people. An industry that is so judgemental. It’s very hard to be strong and step out of like your own personality, I will not conform! It’s just with So You Think You Can Dance I had to wear a wig, a weave a dress! But you know what, I will not, I did it for TV it was my job, but I will not for anybody do that so that I can be pictured on more red carpets or be on every front cover of the heat magazine and be like ” ahh Sade lost a few pounds”. No ways screw that this is me, if you don’t like me for who I am and then actually I don’t care.
A: I like that about you! What was the weirdest thing you have done?
S: (Laughs) Do you have time?
A: (Laughs)
S: I can cover your whole blog!
A: We can do that!
S: (Laughs) There has been lots of weird things that I’ve done, I mean if I go back to YOTV, I’m sure you remember from Wildroom that snack attack
A: Oh yes!
S: In the beginning when snack attack was gross, it soon became nice because everyone wanted to eat. From crews to producers, directors we actually wanted to eat. Because we all just though what a waste we actually just bought a loaf of bread and you covered it in crap. Yet, in the beginning when it was that I was the only one who would eat the stuff, like someone would be like “a peanut butter and apples and spaghetti sandwich” and I was always the one that would eat it. I was always the extremist; I was like cool I would do it! So when it comes to crazy this “gal” is the one. So I really have done a lot of crazy stuff.
A: So that’s good, it is good to be crazy it makes life more interesting
S: It makes life Fun!
A: So what new projects are you working on?
S: MTV choice which is on DSTV channel 130, which is the original MTV channel. We are filtering in local contents and MTV choice is the first South African show on MTV and that started on the 21st of August. It’s my newest biggest project, but I want to give it my blood, sweat and tears. Of which I already have. I’m already exhausted and we not even halfway. But it is a nice exhaustion, it’s not like “ahh now I have to go again, ahh this sucks” I am so amped and I just want to make this show unbelievable. I’m working with Roxy Burger, and she’s a friend of mine as well and we have never worked together we just knew each other. So now to work with A. A friend and B. Someone who I find extremely talented and together we just ridiculous.
A: I was just about to ask you; what it is like working with her?
S: It’s just so much fun, we can have fun as mates and we can have fun on the show. I think we complement each other so well. We are the same, you would think that we almost like the same stuff, but we are so different and unique at the same time and that works!
A: I know that people use to compare the two of you back in the day and there was really no comparison
S: No really there isn’t, the only comparison is that she was on KTV and me on YOTV, that’s it but as talented people in the industry we the same, we both passionate about what we do, we both love what we do, there is no other better person to work with. So I think the one thing that really upsets me about this industry is that people let all this go to their heads, they become arrogant, the whole ego thing, celeb thing, like it is so nice to work with someone who is on the freak in same page as me.
A: I like that, because I don’t see why you must change. So, what words of encouragement do you have for other people striving to be like you?
S: I just say go for it. Because especially in this industry it is so hard, it is so tough people will break you down, people will tell you that you not good enough, people will ask you what you are going to bring to the table that a thousand haven’t. It’s hard-core so if this is the specific industry that you want to be in, you need to be like rhino dude, you need to be like RHINO, because it is tough it is very hard-core. If you are so passionate and you are a hard worker and you want to do things properly; than do things properly. As it is so easy in any industry to take short cuts sometimes. I don’t recommend that for anybody, because the harder you climb the harder you fall. So if it is your passion and it’s something that you want to do give it your all, doors will close in your face, but you just keep opening more, and you just keep going at it. If it’s meant to be than it really will be! Surround yourself with the right people that’s probably the most important part, you believe in them, they believe in you and that’s a good support structure, so don’t get mixed up with the wrong crowd, all that usual stuff that people might say, like our parents know what they are talking about, they were not just trying to preach to us. It really counts especially in this industry. That’s why sometimes I’m like what am I doing because I hate 90% of these people, but I love what I do. I love it when I walk in the street and 10 girls recognize me and 10 guys recognize me, I get excited because that means I did something, I influenced those people’s lives in some way and that’s a great feeling! Like I drive an average car like I’m not going to driving around in a Beamer, or like live in Houghton, or be like “yeah check out my bling” or have breakfast, lunch and supper at Tasha’s! No I’m not going to do that. I go to the cheapest shops; I go to the cheapest pub, because I want the cheapest beer. I like still have my student mentality. I like things I like, but I’m not going to spend more money, R500 on a jacket no, just to get the same Jacket at Mr Price for a 100 bucks. I would rather buy the cheapest item and give the rest of the money to charity for children who needs school shoes. That’s why I say I give back, my mind isn’t like me me me me.
A: I like that. Do you believe that any person can achieve their dreams?
S: Without a doubt. It’s so easy to give up. We might overcome what we going through perfectly, but it’s just so easy to give up and say “I’m done!” We can achieve all our dreams, no matter how tough your life is, no matter how hectic things get.
I mean I suffer from depression; I’ve been suffering from depression since I was a kid and I got to a point where I was like “I’m done! Life at home is shit, work is too hectic, and people at school is kak! So I’m done. I don’t need to be her.” So I had all of those thoughts, I had suicidal attempts, but once I overcome those feelings of I don’t want to live anymore and I’m alive and looked at what I’m doing… I was like imagine I actually quit… I mean like my dreams have come through, maybe it didn’t happen when I was 18, but that’s fine it’s not supposed to. It happens in time. Yet at the tender age of 28 my dreams have come through, so without a doubt
A: Wow Sade you only 28! You have truly accomplished a lot!
S: Yes I have, wait listen to this; I have been in the industry for 21 years, it’s actually freaks me out! I have been a presenter for 21 years, that’s like someone’s child getting the key of life. That’s how long I have been presenting!
A: You should be proud of yourself.
S: I am; and that’s why when I look back at my life and overcoming the depression to the point where I don’t have suicidal thoughts, and I love my life and I want to inspire other people, and I want to help other people with this kind of problem. When I look at that I’m like seriously…
A: I’m actually happy that you talk about the depression and the suicidal part, because I mean so many people go through depression and suicidal thoughts and they think this is the end there is nothing else worth doing!
S: You know what it is; it’s that moment where you don’t hear the outside world, it’s just you and your thoughts. You so sucked into your own black hole; you don’t care about your parents or your friends, you don’t care about your brother and sister. You just don’t care and at the same time you going they don’t care, they won’t even miss me when I’m gone. You know at the same time you taking your life, you burning everyone else’s, because we don’t realise how many people actually care. You really do think that you are alone and when you realise that you not alone… than you start to climb out of the hole.
I have been doing talks in Hamannskraal, I just decided that it is important. There was a lady in Hamannskraal who burnt herself and her saving grace was hearing her baby cry. She was like “I have a child, what am I doing?” I mean she was thinking only about her life and how complicated her life was. She had a moment where she forgot about her kid, but when her kid started crying, she jumped into water, but she completely melted, but she is alive doing good and is doing the talks with me. We started doing talks there, and ironically, the week before we were going to do a talk at one of the schools one of the kids attempted to commit suicide. The one school was told not to talk about it, not to say anything about it. So it was very hard to deliver the message to them, because teachers didn’t care, even when I spoke to the teachers they didn’t seem to care. They just had this attitude, which was very heart breaking for me. They not educated about this kind of stuff; in certain cultures we don’t talk about that stuff, so they were like no. So it’s hard to communicate that. Yet we met another school in Hamannskraal and they were so happy to have us there, they were like “Thank you, for taking the time to teach our children, for wanting to help for wanting to educate.” It’s nice when people are open to knowing that this is a problem, so me it was hard to understand at that specific school where the girl actually committed suicide and unfortunately ended up dying. As we finished the talk at that school we found out that there was another girl who attempted to commit suicide too. I was like that is two girls in one school and they don’t even acknowledge the problem, instead they busy rolling their eyes at us. Therefore; the kids themselves weren’t taking us seriously, as I was jumping from class to class there was no time to take pictures, because we only had a certain time with the kids. Eventually the one guy came up to me and said that this girl would like to take a picture with you, and I was like I really can’t, because I have to rush to the next class and if I take a photo with you I have to take one with everyone. Then he said to me “well now she is going to be sad and try to kill herself.”
A: oh my word!
S: and I looked at him and I lost it, I like saw red and I went off at him. It still didn’t register. I was like so angry, because this is a serious matter. Eventually I pulled myself towards myself and realised that some people you just can’t get through to them. Although that one school really appreciated our talk, eventually I thought this isn’t for me, but when I went to two other schools and they listened and appreciated me being there, I decided to carry on.
Lastly go for what you want, do what you love and never give up!
All questions by Alexandria Allan (A)
All answers by Sade Giliberti (S)
Pictures courtesy of Sade Giliberti
Twitter: @OneSadie @MTVza VJ
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sadegiliberti.tv
YouTube: youtube.com/sadegiliberti
Catch Sade Giliberti on MTV choice at 16:00 on Channel 130 every Wednesday
@MTVza VJ / TV PRESENTER / VOICE-OVER ARTIST / ACTRESS / MCEE
Through coloured lenses 