WATCH | ‘He hoped it would help him turn his life around’- inside Chilli M’s last interview

Late veteran radio broadcaster Chilli M laid bare his whole life in a final interview he hoped would turn his fortunes around.

The star, who died in January after being rushed to hospital, sat down with David Mashabela for an interview just weeks before his death.

The interview was published recently as part of David's podcast series on radio legends, and details some of his financial and emotional struggles.

He also spoke about life after he was fired from Ukhozi FM in 2016 for taking a bribe from an aspiring kwaito group, which he said he did because he had been having money problems since the death of his daughter a year earlier.

“He was very honest about his mistakes, the things he looks back on and realises he shouldn't have done. He got too famous too quickly and at a young age and the temptations were too strong.

“He also spoke about his battle with drugs and alcohol. He cried. He cried for a good five minutes on air, it was like he was coming clean and letting it all rest,” David told TshisaLIVE.

David said that he saw the “desperation for a comeback” in Chilli's eyes on the day they recorded the interview, and Chilli had told him that he believed the podcast would help him get a much-needed job.

In the interview, Chilli M spoke about his success at several stations, how he changed the landscape of SA radio and his party animal tendencies that saw him miss several shows.

“I was not being naughty. I was being irresponsible. I was plain irresponsible. I am not going to blame the kid in me. If I have to look at my life today, as much as I don't regret anything I did, it was plain stupidity.”

Opening up fully about his Ukhozi axing, he said he regretted taking the bribe because it was the moment things started to “fall apart” for him.

“God took everything away from me because I was on self-destruction mode ... I could have died, based on the drug use, the alcohol abuse, rehab after rehab. I was in self-destruction mode, but God gave me life.”

He burst into tears near the end of the interview, saying he could not knock on radio stations doors.

“My story can't change it. It has been written ... I am just a call away.”