Straight to the therapist’s couch with Kelly Khumalo and mom

Season 1 became the fastest Showmax Original to top a million views when it launched in August 2020. The half-hour show, which trended at #1 on Twitter, was hailed as “explosive” by Chrizelda Kekana on TimesLIVE, while The Star’s Debashine Thangevelo added it “pulls no punches … one of the best celeb-driven reality shows I’ve watched in a while. The woman at the heart of it is independent, feisty and a tour de force.”

Life With Kelly Khumalo S1 is up for a SA Film and Television Award for Best Soap Structured Reality TV Show, where its competition is Lebo M – Coming Home and Somizi & Mohale: The Union. 

A household name by 21, Khumalo is one of SA’s biggest music stars, who’s been named Best Female Artist at the SA Music Awards, sold millions of albums and opened for Missy Elliott, with more than two million followers on Instagram alone. Since season one, she’s launched her eighth studio album, The Voice of Africa, featuring the hit single Empini, which has already racked up more than seven million views on YouTube alone.

Watch the season one recap: 

Season one didn’t shy away from any of her controversies, such as her turbulent relationship with her son’s father, hip-hop star Jub Jub; the conspiracy theories surrounding the death of her daughter’s father, Bafana Bafana captain Senzo Meyiwa; and her “divorce” from her sister, Zandie. 

But Life With Kelly Khumalo also offered fans an intimate glimpse at the woman behind the headlines: a single mother of two who was juggling parenting with two careers under threat by SA’s Covid-19 lockdown, which banned live music and alcohol sales – just as she launched her first gin, appropriately titled Controversy. As GQ put it, season one “reveals a side to Khumalo no-one has seen before”.

The big talking point from the first episode of season two is going to be Khumalo’s visit to her therapist Anele Siswana with her mother Ntombi Khumalo, who infamously moved out of Khumalo’s house and headed for KwaZulu-Natal in season one with no warning. 

“I have been seeing a therapist for years, and I saw what that has done for me, especially recently,” Khumalo told us. “When it’s just the two of us trying to sort things out, it never amounts to anything, except us misunderstanding each other further. So hopefully a trained third party will make a big difference.” 

The therapy session brings both to tears. 

But while Ntombi is back, now it’s Khumalo’s close friend Wanda Baloyi who’s missing, living her best life in Mozambique. “It’s quite lonely without her,” Khumalo admits in episode one. When Baloyi says she’s not sure when she’s coming back, Khumalo asks: “Chommie, should I start auditioning for a new friend?” 

Season two’s trailer teases more drama to come, including Khumalo venturing into the shoe industry and starting to date again. 

Watch the S2 trailer: 

Life With Kelly Khumalo is produced by BarLeader and directed by Olwethu Mlotshwa, the power combo behind hit reality shows such as Somizi & Mohale: The Union, Being Bonang and Kwa Mam’Mkhize. 

The full second season will be available to binge from August 5 2021.