From humble beginnings to stardom
Dumisani Ncube | Friday August 7, 2015 18:00
The 23-year-old burst into the entertainment scene late last year as a TV host for one of the most watched programmes on Botswana television, Pula Power.
She came as an underdog, and many people did not know her, but she quickly got a lot of attention from viewers, and became one of the favourites.
The starlet grew up in the small town of Palapye in a biracial family. Her father is of Norwegian origin, while her mother is a Motswana.
“Growing up in a biracial family I was taught to accept everyone in the society regardless of their background,” said Neelo Oppedal, who developed love for being on television at a tender age. Oppedal said she was an active child growing up who was involved in a number of activities.
“I was an all-rounder at school. I played a number of sports and I was also involved in theatre,” she said.
All these activities led to the TV host developing a creative side that led her to start her own imaginary TV show, which was done in the comfort of her own bedroom.
The imaginary TV show was repeatedly rehearsed in front of her mirror. She related to Arts & Culture that she would sit in from of the mirror. She would use a styling comb as a microphone, while the mirror would be the TV.
While doing her senior years at Kgaswe High School International English Medium, she got an opportunity to intern at Yarona FM as a radio presenter. At this point she discovered that she could venture into the media industry.
As the years went by she continued to be active in sport and theatre up until she completed her high school. “When I started my law studies at University of Botswana I immediately lost that creative side of me, which were in sports and theatre,” she said.
While pursuing her studies Oppedal, who is also a model, got bored. She missed her creative side, but due to the focus she had on her studies she did not get the time to do theatre or sporting activities.
She finally let the boredom that was growing in her die when she met film producer, Thabiso Maretlwaneng.
“I happened to be at the same event as Maretlwaneng at that time. When I saw him I had the guts to approach him and told him that I have an interest in being a host on Pula Power. We arranged to meet for an audition and I aced it,” she said. After qualifying at the auditions she joined Brandon Boss and the German twins to co-host the show. On Pula Power she has a slot where she interviews different artists about their craft. She has interviewed a number of artists such as Kast, T.H.A.B.O and photographer, K.O.
Along the way fame smiled upon her, a thing she attributes to her personality.
She explained that her humble background prevented her from letting the fame to her head.
She has managed to grow her craft in the media industry from being an ordinary TV host into other ventures.
She recently discovered her emceeing skills at this year’s Fête de la Musique.
“I get easily bored. I like to try out new things every now and then,” Oppedal said.
While presenting on radio, she managed to grab attention from a number of investors and brands. She has joined the likes of Boity and Clint Brink as a brand ambassador for Ultimate Sports Nutrition (USN) for Botswana.
As a USN ambassador she spends time in the gym and she has also changed to a diet that suits the fitness lifestyle.
On her social network accounts she posts pictures of herself in the gym or taking supplements.
Oppedal aims to venture into different avenues as she is also considering acting.
She has a strong respect for social networks, as she believes that they have opened doors for a number of upcoming media entrepreneurs.