Grab your popcorns, it’s about to go down.
If there’s one show we have all been waiting for, with bated breath, then this is it. The much-anticipated show, The Real Housewives of Nairobi will make its debut today on showmax. The show follows the luxurious lives of five influential women in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital city– Susan Kaittany, Vera Sidika, Sonal Maherali, Minne Kariuki, and Lisa Christoffersen as they navigate their opulent lives, relationships, family and businesses.
On Tuesday evening, ahead of its official premiere on showmax, celebrities and media personalities were invited to a special premiere party and screening at the Windsor Golf Hotel and Country Club. The event themed ‘Elite Glam’ saw celebrities dressed to the nines as they mingled with the cast members of the show. The red carpet was a cocktail of elegance and fabulous aura.
RHONairobi joins a library of other successful African adaptations such as Johannesburg, Pretoria and Durban, Cape Town, Gqeberha, Abuja and Lagos.
Once dismissed as a noxious fad, reality TV has now hardened into an entertainment-industry institution. According to the BBC, a 2017 found that a fifth of all primetime TV programmes in the US were reality shows – second only to drama. Its influence on wider culture is undeniable, from the ascension of reality stars to the status of A-list celebrities, like Paris Hilton and the Kardashians – and even, in the case of Donald Trump, to president of the United States. The dawning of the “influencer era” and the merging of news and entertainment feel impossible without it too. As the New York Times put it in March this year: “Reality TV is part of the atmosphere. It is an entertainment genre and lifestyle, career path and political philosophy.”
The cast members of RHONairobi :
Vera Sidika
Thirty-three-year-old Vera Sidika is no stranger to the limelight. In fact, she declares in her introduction video on The Real Housewives of Nairobi: “I’m the most googled celebrity in this country, more than the president, and that’s on, period!” Married to singer Brown Mauzo, she is one of Kenya’s most talked about celebrities and alongside her entrepreneurial ventures into the Spa and Herbal Tea industries, Sidika has more recently expanded her talents to music. She has one daughter, with one more child on the way.
Sonal Maherali
She may be soft-spoken but Sonal Maherali, or as she calls herself, “the queen of the African savannah”, knows a thing or two about marking her territory while staying sophisticated, and sometimes dramatic when need be. Sonal is a luxury influencer, fashion collector and entrepreneur. She established her niche through luxury vlogging in 2010 and the mother of four has since founded Simba Maharani, a luxury clothing and shoe line.
Susan Kaittany
Susan Kaittany is a serial entrepreneur and owner of Posh Palace Hair Studio and Spa and Polished, with the latter being a luxury fragrance and skin care shop. She is posh, she’s bold and she’s savage. Add her love for statement hairstyles and Susan Kaittany is everything you want in a Real Housewife of Nairobi. “I was obviously on the top list for The Real Housewives of Nairobi… I mean, look at me.”
Lisa Christoffersen
Motorsport enthusiast Lisa Christoffersen of The Real Housewives of Nairobi doesn’t have enough patience for trivial drama. She’s broken up a couple of fights and arguments among the ladies because “some of them feel like they’re stuck in a gramophone.” Lisa is an interior designer, author, business owner, rally driver and luxury safari curator. Christoffersen is the founder of Lioness Rally, the first women-only rally team in Kenya, and Lifestyle Nairobi, an artisanal space in Nairobi’s diplomatic hub of Gigiri, featuring an art gallery, restaurants, a spa, organic shops and fashion houses.
Minne Kariuki
When she’s not breaking sponsors’ hearts and living that baby girl life as Mariah on Single Kiasi, Minne Kariuki gets busy with the construction business in Nairobi. Minne is an actress and entrepreneur, and married to businessman Charles Muigai with whom they have two daughters. The youngest of the five housewives, Kariuki is sassy, bold and unapologetic about who she is.
