The year that was for Bonang: Slayage, scandals & lessons

It has been a year and a half for Bonang Matheba. B has gone through the most: From popularising phrases like "champagne darling" to leaving Metro FM and out on her birthday party, she has done the most.

Leaving Metro FM 

Perhaps the most shocking thing we saw from Bonang was her abrupt and "drama filled" resignation from SABC's Metro FM in April.

The former The Front Row presenter left the station amidst annual line-up changes, which included introducing a new co-host, Lerato Kganyago.

Bonang told TshisaLIVE at the time that she left Metro on "principle" and not because of having to co-host with Lerato.

"It could have been anybody else in that chair. It could have been male‚ female‚ a famous person or a non-famous person. It was principle that mattered to me."

She said she was leaving because the station only told her about the line-up changes an hour before going on air. However evidence emerged proving otherwise.

WhatsApp messages, emails and records of phone calls between Metro FM station manager Sibongile Mtayli, Metro FM programme manager Tony Soglo and Bonang  proved that the station made several attempts to meet with her before.

Split stunt

There was that crazy weekend where the whole of Mzansi was caught in a state of confusion over Bonang and AKA's relationship. Bonang and her beau had been publicly sharing their love and the next thing they said it was over.

"Sad to announce that myself & @bonang_m have broken up. We tried guys," wrote AKA on Twitter.

It later turned out that it was a stunt. Bonang's fans could not believe that their queen had played them, but as swiftly as the split happened (and an expensive Gucci handbag later) the two were back together like nothing ever happened.

Reality queen

After previously declaring on Twitter that she would "never" have a reality show, B made a u-turn in 2017. She "gave the people what they want," with an exclusive look into her life on her reality show, Being Bonang.

But just as fans were enjoying the front row seat into B's glamourous life, she announced there would be no second season.

Speaking to TshisaLIVE, Bonang's management explained that it was never the plan to do a second season. They explained that the decision was made by Bonang and poured cold water over speculation that it had anything to do with viewership numbers.

"You would need to speak to the channel but the whole idea was for her to have one season of the show. The show has done extremely well and there has been a phenomenal growth on the channel," DNA Brand's Sylvester Chauke said.

B*mojis

Bonang followed in the footsteps of international celebrity Kim Kardashian and released her set of Bmojis this year.

She also partnered up with Cell C for the B app, where she uploads exclusive content for her B* Force.

From A to B: Bonang Matheba (the book) introduced Mzansi to Binglish

Bonang released her anticipated book in 2017, but it was heavily criticised for his grammatical errors and missing words.

The book became a talking point on social media after users pointed out that Bonang's birthday was published as 24 June, when it is 25 June. Twitter users also shared screenshots of a page where words were missing. 

Speaking to TshisaLIVE at the launch, the publisher of BlackBird Books Thabiso Mahlape, said she took responsibility for the errors. 

"I take full responsibility for what happened. The last thing I want is for black people to be accused of mediocrity and I should do better. It's on me as the publisher. I ought to have done better," she said. 

Changing lives

Queen B also launched the The Bonang Matheba Bursary Fund. The media personality took a step toward enlarging her philanthropic side and helped ten students get a little closer to their dreams. 

And, of course, she had a fabulous luncheon to celebrate with them.

That 500k  soiree

So Bonang turned 30 in 2017 and, boy, Mzansi was never ready for the extravaganza her party turned out to be. The half a million budget should have alerted people that it would be a soiree like no other.

Everything about the party was just spelling slayage. However, as with almost everything in B's life, it also attracted some "scandal".

Her party was held on the same day as Minnie Dlamini's wedding and Kairo's birthday.

She told TshisaLIVE that she did not intend to shade Minnie or Kairo, and even went to Kairo's birthday party with AKA the next day. 

"The weekend of my birthday I was in New York. The week after my boyfriend was performing at the Durban July. So, I had it last week because everyone was available. I had been planning it for four and a half months but had to move it because I wanted all my most important people there," she told TshisaLIVE.