Sejosingoe - who lost out in the final to Anke Pietrangeli when she was only 18 years old - said she was so overwhelmed by the hype surrounding the television show that she actually wanted to lose .

"I hate competitions and I didn't want to win. The pressure was too much, the race issue flared up and I prayed that I didn't win," she said yesterday.

"I was 18 and from Gugulethu. I'd never lived alone or even held a R100 note in my hand. The most I'd had at a time would be R5 for vetkoek or a kota, so it would have been difficult."

She was persuaded to enter Idols South Africa by Fezeka Secondary School choir teacher Nasius Mgada.

The show demanded sacrifice: she had to give up writing her matric that year.

Sejosingoe also had to endure a highly publicised break-up with her boyfriend at the time.

He apparently dumped her when he joined university because he felt he couldn't date a high school pupil.

Sejosingoe said: "Throughout Idols, I wanted to go home, I'm not going to lie."

After the final, she shared the same stage as US stars Josh Groban and Beyoncé at various charity events in the country, and even made a guest appearance on Australian Idol .

She also won a Best Actress award for her role on Khosi at the Zabalaza Theatre Festival Awards.

But there were no albums - until now.