South African singer, actress, and radio host Unathi Nkayi recently talked about how her friendship with reality TV star Somizi Mhlongo ended. She said that Mhlongo pursued her ex-husband instead of her.
Nkayi has also accused Somizi of preventing the renewal of her idols. Nkayi claims that Mhlongo, a friend and former coworker who had left the show owing to reports of abuse, had an impact on her termination from it.
The musician claimed in a recent episode of Podcast and Chill with MacG that she had a strict stand against abuse.
Mhlongo, a judge on the program as well, resigned amid the turmoil surrounding the claims. The show included weekly guest judges who would act in his place until he returned during his absence.
But as Mhlongo’s legal troubles subsided, talk about his coming back to Idols arose.
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Nkayi claims that he was approached by the program about returning, and that he was given the option to decide on the conditions of his return. She claims that being kicked off the show was one of those terms.
“I knew it was coming because Somizi was returning, and I knew that after the stand I made, he wouldn’t want to collaborate with me,” she remarked.
She went on to say that because Mhlongo was found guilty back in 2008, she does not defend sexual criminals.
For many years, Unathi and Somizi were close friends and coworkers, but their friendship deteriorated following Unathi’s 13-year marriage to Thomas Msengana.
Unathi claims that Somizi, a friend of Thomas’s who she also shared, sided with Thomas both during and after the divorce.
“I don’t have any issues with Somizi, but we are no longer friends because he chose Thomas’ side,” she stated in a recent Podcast and Chill with MacG episode.
Unathi claimed to have seen indications of Somizi pulling away.
“He stopped texting and calling me, started going on boys’ holidays with Thomas, and even said weird things about me on his reality show,” she alleged.
Her relatives saw the shift as well and counseled her to move on and accept the circumstances.
When Somizi was accused of sexually abusing his then-partner, Mohale Motaung, in 2021, it produced a great deal of controversy online and led to an increase in tension between them. At about the same time, R. Kelly was found guilty on several counts of abusing sexual contact with minors.
After Unathi expressed her relief on Instagram that R. Kelly had finally been found guilty, others wondered why she had not backed Somizi.
“People questioned my decision to not back Somizi. She declared, “He is not my friend, and I don’t support sexual offenders,” referencing Mhlongo’s 2008 conviction.
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Unathi stated that she found out through the media that neither her nor Randall Abrahams’ contracts were extended, and she thinks Somizi’s comeback to the show had some influence.
“I saw that Somizi was coming back for the final season, and I knew he would never want to work with me after the stance I took,” she explained.
According to Unathi, Somizi exerted a great deal of control over the show, to the point where he demanded her departure in exchange for his release.
“By not renewing my contract to meet Somizi’s demands, the show took a gamble on losing viewers,” she said, ironically pointing out that the show did lose viewers in the last season.
