Lunga Shabalala (born 22 May 1989) is a South African actor, model, and TV presenter. He rose to prominence as a host of the SABC 1 entertainment and variety show Selimathunzi. His first acting role was on the soap opera The River. And, now more recently on Ubethina Wethu he plays Dingaan Jiyane. Read  biography below.

Biography of Lunga Shabalala

Full name: Lunga Shabalala
Date of birth: 22 May 1989
Place of birth: Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Education: Maritzburg College
Height: 1.8m
Occupation: Actor, Model and TV presenter
Known for: Dingaan Jiyane on Ubethina
Net worth: $300,000
Nationality: South African

Early Life

Pietermaritzburg is where Lunga was born and raised. He went to Maritzburg College. Moreover, was classmates with now-South African actor Zenzelisphesihle Xulu and singer Mario Ogle at the time. He earned a diploma in town planning after finishing his education. As he later admitted, this was not his calling.

Education

Lunga attended high school in South Africa. He used to be a rugby player when he was younger. After finishing high school, he enrolled at Maritzburg College to pursue a diploma in Town Planning.

He informed his family that he was not interested in that career after graduating from college. His parents were enraged by his decision not to pursue a career in town planning, so he left home at the age of 21 to pursue his passion. He departed in 2011.

Lunga Shabalala Personal life

There were rumors that Lunga was gay in 2014. He came out to deny the rumors, claiming that, while there was nothing wrong with being gay, he was actually a straight man. Later, he was linked to a romantic relationship with K Naomi Noinyane, a model and Channel O presenter. Later, Lunga Shabalala and K Naomi confirmed their relationship. However, the couple split up after a while.

Cheating Rumours

Lunga Shabalala and Naomi’s relationship ended due to infidelity. Lunga had an affair with Omuhle Gela while they were still together. The relationship between Lunga Shabalala and Omuhle Gela behind Naomi’s back quickly became a public scandal, causing the couple to split. Lunga later admitted to cheating on Naomi and claimed that fame and success in the media industry had gotten to him.

Lunga and Thando Thabethe

There have recently been rumors that Lunga is dating the stunning Thando Thabethe, who is also a media personality. Pictures on social media showed him and Thando on vacation in the Maldives, which fueled the speculation. He and Thando had not confirmed their relationship. But recent rumors show that they dated and had a bitter ending. With Lunga even being accused of harassing Thando Thabethe to a point she got a protection order against him.

Career Beginnings

Lunga relocated to Johannesburg to work in television. His first job was in a Coca-Cola advertisement. In August 2010, he competed in the Calvin Klein Represent South Africa modeling competition. He won the competition, which drew widespread attention. He then started watching television.

In 2011, he competed in the nationwide search for the next Selimathunzi presenter, a competition launched to replace Kaos Matu, who had left the show. He was chosen as the next Selimathunzi presenter after winning the competition. His celebrity status was confirmed when he was named to Cosmopolitan’s list of the sexiest hunks calendar in 2011.

Breakthroughs in TV Industry

He appeared on the entertainment countdown show 10 over 10 in 2013. Later that year, he was selected to co-host SABC 1’s official New Year’s Eve show Come Duze. He hosted the annual show for three years. In 2014, he was chosen to co-host the SABC 3 reality TV show Man Cave with Janez Vermeiren.

Male contestants compete in male-themed adventurous tasks on the show. He was the show’s official co-host for all six seasons, which ended in 2017. In February 2015, he appeared on Celebrity Masterchef South Africa, a South African version of the hit Australian reality TV show of the same name.

Related posts:

• The life of Andile of Sithole AKA Ndumiso from Scandal- From a herdsboy to Acting
• Who is Oritando from Skeem Saam? Prince Magoai Bio, age, being gay and more
• Mondli Thusi AKA Selepe on Scandal biography, age and career

Recent Career Information

He was chosen in June 2016 to co-host the red carpet at the 2016 South African Music Awards at the Durban International Convention Centre with Bonang Matheba and Pearl Modiadie. In 2017, he announced his departure as a co-presenter on Selimathunzi. His most recent broadcast was on November 28, 2017.

In 2018, he made his acting debut as Lindani in M-original net’s production The River, which aired on Dstv’s 1Magic channel. He played Sims Zulu on the M-Net original production Legacy from early 2021 to the show’s end in September 2022. And now more recently, he plays Dingaan Jiyane on Ubethina Wethu.

Lunga Shabalala Net Worth

Shabalala is extremely active on various social media platforms. Lunga Shabalala has at least 190k Instagram followers. His followers can view over 500 stunning photos of him on this platform. He also has over 173,000 followers on Twitter. Since joining Twitter in November 2009, he has sent out approximately 17.1k tweets. He also has a Facebook page with over 87k followers.

More posts: 

• Anathi Gobeni – Lindo from Imbewu biography, sexuality and more
• Makhaola Ndebele full biography – Get to know Reggie from Scandal
• Nambitha from House of Zwide: Sikelelwa Vuyeleni biography

Lunga Shabalala on Social media

Shabalala is extremely active on various social media platforms. Lunga Shabalala has at least 190k Instagram followers. His followers can view over 500 stunning photos of him on this platform. He also has over 173,000 followers on Twitter.

Since joining Twitter in November 2009, he has sent out approximately 17.1k tweets. He also has a Facebook page with over 87k followers. He has posted the email address lunga@lungashabalala.com as the contact to use when booking him for an event on his social media.