There is a saying that when life gives you lemons, you should make yourself some lemonade, and this is something that television personality Lasizwe Dambuza has been living up to for quite some time – now and it has finally paid off.
The 26-year-old content creator recently secured himself a nomination for Best Online Content ahead of this year’s upcoming South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTA), for his popular show Awkward Dates. The show is a hilarious comedy show where Lasizwe goes on blind dates with different celebrities and is a fan favourite on his YouTube channel.
View this post on Instagram
Speaking about what inspired the show, he told the news and entertainment publication Daily Sun that the idea came during some of the darkest times of his life.
“I was going through a lot of depression and wasn’t creative. One day, I watched a show called Chicken Shop Date by a UK content creator and got inspired. I started thinking about how I could make it better and more personal,” he revealed.
This, however, was not the first time the young star spoke about his battle with mental challenges. In 2021 he booked himself into a mental health facility before deciding to end his YouTube channel in 2022, after battling depression and ending up in hospital.
View this post on Instagram
It was after he returned to the channel in July 2023 that he introduced the popular show.
Speaking to TshisaLive at the time he said, “I have been taking time off to focus on my mental health, my sabbatical, and just trying to align myself. That’s the most important thing because the nature of our industry requires us to really give so much of ourselves that we lose ourselves. So really, just trying to recollect myself and be one with myself.”
Following his recent nomination the young creative said that he was ecstatic about the honour to be nominated.
“Just the nomination alone symbolises the effort and hard work my team and I put in to deliver a high-quality show, not just for TV but for YouTube. It shows our work is recognised on a national platform, where we get to be in the same space as industry giants,” he said.
Also see: Lasizwe introduces ‘Awkward dates’ blind date edition
