Unpacking the villain narrative: Was Christina misrepresented in ‘The Mommy Club: Sugar & Spice’?
Yoh, “The Mommy Club: Sugar & Spice” has left fans eagerly awaiting the upcoming two-part reunion, which will be hosted by Shahan Ramkissoon.
Mzansi wants the tea on several of the fallouts, especially those that involved Christina Devraj.
I hope he brings the heat, like MaBlerh did with the reunion for “The Real Housewives of Durban” season three and four.
In the meantime, I feel viewers were manipulated by POP24. The production house pegged Christina as the villain from the get-go. To her credit, she brought some liveliness to what would have been a dull show.
After all, the blueprint of a reality show isn’t built around nice.
Although she was not present at every get-together, the ones where she showed up, she stirred the pot.
She rubbed the rest of the cast - Lenore Goss-Matjie, Kim Jones, Asharia Parsad, twins Losh and Resh Naidoo, Neetasha Singh Bugwandin and Devina Kowlas - up the wrong way, directly or indirectly.
When I reviewed the spin-off series, it was based on the three episodes I had watched. I’ve since watched all of them.
And Christina dominated the limelight for all the wrong reasons. It was clear that she loved the sound of her voice as the other ladies struggled to get a word in edgewise when they first met at Kim’s baby shower.
She purported to be an authority on a dirty chai latte and didn’t quite get the difference between a general practitioner and a specialist doctor.
Her comments on Lenore being brave for participating - and winning - Miss India SA, went south very quickly.
Attempts by Lenore to have a private chat with Christina to help her understand the insensitivity of her comments were not received well.
Christina behaved like an entitled child sent to the naughty corner. She called Lenore old. She tried to gaslight her about being insecure. She maintained that she was complimenting her. Even at a stretch, though, it was a backhanded compliment.
As the youngest mom in the group, it is evident that Christina lacks the maturity and grace to behave in a socially acceptable manner.
Her behaviour hasn’t served her well. That picnic with Kim is a testament to this. I don’t think anyone who watched the show will ever forget Christina’s dirty grapes rant or her passive-aggressive behaviour whenever she felt attacked.
She has zero emotional intelligence or tact.
The bottom line is she was enemy number one since the show started. When she walked into a room, the energy shifted. Not that she noticed - or cared.
In episode 10, titled “Now I See You”, Lenore decided to give her another chance as she believed Christina was truly apologetic for the racist and ageist comments at her event.
At their catchup, Christina let down her guard and admitted that she was struggling in her personal life. Her mental health had taken a knock. She was hanging on by a thread to keep it together for her daughter, Jordan, and their family.
Again, not to condone her past actions, but it was clear her actions were connected to an underlying health issue.
Her compassionate conversation with her heavily pregnant close friend also painted her in a new light.
In one of her interviews with the streaming platform, she said: “I've learnt that it’s important to be strong and do what you set out to do. I've learned that I am a lot more resilient than I thought I was. I wasn't well during the show but I showed up and made the show happen.”
She added: “I think that whether or not the cast and I were best friends, we were all doing reality TV together and had to bring the spice. I had no choice but to be around them even if we did not see eye to eye.
“I don't believe they should have been anything else than who they are. If it was all sugar, the show would not be interesting.”
I’m perturbed by the realisation that the production house manipulated our feelings towards Christina. Talk about straddling a fine line between artful and truthful editing.
While Abigail pussyfooted her way through the drama, Devina and Asharia were truly admirable on the show. Their quiet confidence spoke volumes.
Kim is also very likeable. She’s respectful but won’t tolerate disrespect.
I’ve admired Resh and Losh from the start. The doting mums shared their family and professional lives with fans. The way they proudly showcased the Hindu culture was commendable.
Being such powerhouse women I do feel that they handled the “Dare to Bare” beauty workshop badly.
In what has been a consistently empowering experience on the show, calling Lenore and Neetasha out for not taking up the challenge was in poor taste and hypocritical, especially since they did the class with a full face beat.
There’s a lot to unpack in the reunion episodes for sure, especially with Lenore’s friends, Maria Valaskatzis and her gusband Neil Ramautar from “The Real Housewives of Durban”, coming in with unsolicited advice on how the cast should help Christina.
Suffice to say, that didn’t go down well.
Overall, the spin-off reality show has been an entertaining ride. I’ve said this before and I will say it again, a positive fly-on-the-wall perspective of a community that is not often showcased in TV shows.
It started sweet and ended on a spicy note. Let’s hope the reunion brings the fireworks, after all, the first part is airing on Diwali.
I’m eager to get Christina’s side of the story, too. The production team owes us that much after stringing us along.
∎ “The Mommy Club: Sugar & Spice” is streaming on Showmax. The two-part reunion drops on October 31 and November 7, respectively.