Thando Mokoena is a 30-year-old physiotherapist who has been completely single for the last three. Although she claims to be a proud and independent woman, she still seems a little obsessed with her ex, Sifiso (Fezile Mkhize), who dumped her on the day of their lobola ceremony, which is a South African custom performed shortly before marriage.
To make matters worse, Sifiso has since married and had children, even going so far as to steal the name Thando always wanted for her first-born son to give to her own son with another woman. In the three years since the breakup, Thando has been living with his best friend, Charles (Siya Raymond Sepotokele). Although there doesn't seem to be anything romantic between them, they are quite compatible and it's clear that he has been there for her through thick and thin.
Creators: Johnny Barbuzano, Tiffany Barbuzano
Stars: Katlego Lebogang, Siya Sepotokele, Didi Makobane
Her support is especially helpful in the face of the Mokoena family's constant judgments and comments about Thando's marital status. Although Thando is excellent at his job and doing well in life, his mother Nellie (Sthandiwe Kgoroge), in particular, cannot let go of her singleness. Thando's older sister Minnie (Lerato Mvelase) and her younger brother Lungile (Bongani Dube) are married and have several children. In fact, when Lungile tells everyone at a family dinner that he and his wife Mikayla (Laura-Lee Mostert) are about to have even more children with a set of twins, Thando announces that she has a boyfriend and that she will bring. for the big Christmas Eve family celebration dinner, much to the delight of his family. The only problem is that Thando is as single as can be. He now has 24 days to find a boyfriend to bring home for the holidays. No pressure!
Every version of Home for Christmas so far has been full of festive fun, but Yoh! Christmas seems to be finding new ways to make the idea its own, turning it into an entertaining international Christmas adventure. The new dynamic of the female lead having a male best friend, for example, is a really compelling change that adds new layers and intrigue to the series and its potential stories. Even if Thando and Charles don't end up having some kind of When Harry Met Sally -style romance, it will be nice to see his depiction of a strong platonic friendship between a woman and a man.
The cast itself is excellent from top to bottom, with many strong, compelling performances, and an exceptional driving force in its star, Katlego Lebogang. Lebogang is as charming, funny, and adorable as Thando, which makes it even more disheartening to see so many people around her being so rude and critical about everything from her marital status to her physical appearance (that shopkeeper was out of line when judging Thando's size, especially when she is definitely medium at most). It will make you want to scream across the screen for Thando to move to a place where people will just leave her alone. You deserve better, girl!
But Thando is clearly not as happily single as she claims. She's still hung up on her ex, who has completely moved on, and although she undergoes a hellish mashup of "Single Jingle First Thursday" later in the first episode, she may not be open to a relationship in first place. After all, seemingly strong potential suitors like Charles and the lovably bumbling new doctor Ben Bakare (Anthony Oseyemi) are there, but she refuses to even entertain the idea of them being romantic prospects. But this just goes to show how difficult we sometimes make our own lives and how we can get in our own way, especially when we're caught between wanting to appease others and pleasing ourselves.
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