It is one of the biggest rivalries on TV in Mzansi but Skeem Saam actress Lerato Marabe says that people have got her character's beef with her neighbour Leshole all wrong.
Lerato plays the role of Pretty on the popular soapie and told TshisaLIVE that she is always amused when fans stop her in the street and reprimand her for how she treats Leshole (played by Thabo Mkhabela).
"I think it is really funny when they shout or tell me that I need to be nicer to him. I guess it shows that I am doing a great job, but a part of me also wonders if they understand why she is like that. She doesn't hate him, she is just hurt."
The pair have been going at each other for ages with Pretty constantly putting Leshole down and calling him dumb.
"They think that Pretty is the one that is at fault. People tell me to leave Leshole alone but it is years later and we are not there anymore. People always think that Pretty was the one that is rude to him but they don't know that in the beginning he hurt her. He pretended to be Emkay online knowing Pretty had a crush on Emkay. Pretty was resentful but he got over it pretty quickly. Pretty holds onto the grudge and has been nasty towards him since."
Lerato would not spill the tea on whether the pair and their families would ever bury the hatchet, but said it was all love off screen.
"Me and Thabo are good. We have a great working relationship. We laugh and joke together. He is a great guy and I have learnt a lot from him. I have grown a lot being on set with him."
Lerato said she always wanted to be an actor and, from a young age, was even entertaining her family by mimicking the weather person on TV.
"I only finished matric in 2017 but I knew from, like, the moment I started school that this was what I wanted to do. I was really blessed to have this opportunity and I just want to grow from here."
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