At Least We Have Good Weather: A Life of Love and Loss

Chapter 18

I look back so fondly at my time at Heat magazine. The editor at the time, Melinda, took a huge chance on me, and for that I will forever be thankful.

One of my favourite moments there happened in my first few days. I had earned the trust of my editor very early on, but even I was surprised when she allowed me to attend a photo shoot of a local actress who we were going to do a big interview with. Or rather, I was going to do the interview and turn it into something worthy of a feature. I wasn't nervous about my interviewing and writing skills, but I was terrified that it happened to be an actress I had had a fanboy crush on for years. Her name was Kim, and I was to meet her early one Saturday morning.

It was my first big assignment and I stayed awake the entire night before, not out of nervousness, but out of excitement. When I finally met her in person, she was about as beautiful as a woman could be. I actually went weak at the knees when I shook her hand. To make matters worse, her photo shoot was a quirky "kissing booth" setup, and oh how I prayed they would ask me to be a customer at the booth. Fantasies aside, she had lips that you dreamed about kissing. I however was not just a professional, but also a gentleman, and I kept my composure throughout the interview. At the end of the day, we hugged and exchanged business cards (I still have hers to this day), and stayed in touch as I kept her posted about appearing in the magazine.

The interview came out wonderfully, and everyone was proud. I would often see Kim around at a lot of entertainment functions, but my ever deteriorating confidence often kept me from speaking to her most of the times. At the time she was also dating a talented cricketer and I just knew I would never be noticed. I guess that's why they are dream girls.

I think about her often, and look on with pride about how well her career has gone, she recently received a lot of attention for her role in a international Sci-Fi series called Dominion, but to me, she will always be that cute girl at the kissing booth.

Working at a weekly entertainment magazine afforded me so much opportunity to experience a life I had always dreamed of. I was given a voice while being a face of the magazine.

From sitting at home alone every night, I was now attending events almost nightly, hanging with the "in" crowd, meeting celebrities, and best of all, I was actually being paid to write about the entertainment industry. From movie and music reviews, to interviews with stars, I thought I could quite easily be here for the rest of my life and be happy.

One day I was chasing after Brad Pitt at a dodgy hospital, the next I was standing next to Will Smith and Ludacris, cracking jokes with them like we were old mates.

I worked with an amazing group of people, and coming in to work every day was such a privilege. Plus, I was hardly at home, which was easily the best part, as a result of the low income, home was worse that it had been in a long time.

As I was also still hosting my weekly TV show, I had built a relationship between my two managers there, a relationship that became vital as another reality show was on its way.

It had been a while since South Africa's inaugural edition of Idols, a popular UK talent show, which of course became more popular in the States over the years.

After Project Fame didn't do the business the producers were hoping for, they decided to do a second season of South African Idols instead.

Knowing the popularity of my Jaded Journalist columns from Project Fame, a deal was struck for me to bring the character back for Idols. I would be given unprecedented backstage access to the show and it's contestants, have a weekly column on the official site (sponsored by Heat), and I had my TV show that would feature eliminated contestants every week.