Leading lady Jessica Nkosi is well-known for holding audiences in the palm of her hand, playing tenacious telenovela characters – whether it’s the regal Qondi in Isibaya or The Queen’s ruthless crime world royal, Thando. For her latest television stint, however, the multiple award-winning actress and presenter picked a fun character designed to have kids – and adults with a sweet tooth – scream with joy.
Jessica was indeed the A-list celebrity pretending to be The Masked Singer, South Africa’s cute supercool Ice Cream.
In the latest edition of Mzansi’s craziest guessing game and singing contest, Owl, Ice Cream, Bue Crane, Boombox and Gold belted it out for a spot in the next round, the Top 8. Meanwhile, the show’s detective panel – J’Something, Sithelo Shozi, Somizi Mhlongo and Skhumba Hlophe – brought in an extra pair of eyes to help them identify the culprits behind the masks. These piercing peepers belonged to the country’s top investigative journalist, Devi Sankaree Govender, who gained first-hand experience in Masked Singer deception tricks as Season 1’s Watermelon.
Yet, if it were up to Devi, Ice Cream would remain a cold case. Instead, supersleuths Sithelo and Somizi detected that Jessica was the one melting hearts from inside the supersized soft-serve cone. Devi and J’Something guessed that Ice Cream was Thando Thabethe, while Skhumba mentioned comedian Tumi Morake.
In fact, Ice Cream brought Sithelo a double scoop of delight this week. Not only was Sithelo the first detective to put forward Jessica’s name, but Ice Cream entertained the audience with “Forever”, the song DJ Sithelo wrote and performed with Skye Wanda in 2019. “That’s my girl!” Sithelo shouted while Ice Cream bopped to her energetic tune.
From Ice Cream’s obscure clue package leading to her performance, the detectives could only gauge that Ice Cream was possibly an actress who could play many parts but that she was probably also a mother whose most fulfilling role was looking after her children. That’s why Devi initially thought Ice Cream might be Cindy Mahlangu from Scandal.
At this stage, body language expert Somizi was still hovering between Linda Mtoba and Jessica, as he was convinced that Ice Cream’s dance moves originated in KZN.
But then, an additional Ice Cream set of clues, presented in Cognito by the frozen dessert’s manager, left the detectives with a brain freeze. Ice Cream’s manager pointed out that her favourite time of the year is Christmas when she goes all out with the celebrations. Furthermore, they heard that Ice Cream might be in high demand in her career, but her family is the softest part of her heart.
Once all five masked singers set the stage alight, it was the studio audience’s turn to vote for their favourite. With that, Blue Crane spread her beautiful wings to the next round alongside precious Gold. Then, the detective panel huddled to decide which of the remaining three costumed characters they would save. They granted Owl the opportunity to hoot for another day, leaving Boombox and Ice Cream in the danger zone.
Eventually, Ice Cream had to pop out of her costume, but first, the detectives had one more chance to lock in their final guesses.
Still slightly confused, they delved deep into their notes from all of Ice Cream’s heart-melting performances and the clues she dripped along the way.
Of course, Sithelo put all the pieces of the delicious puzzle together. In a previous episode, Ice Cream let slip that she has received many accolades, including a prize at the horses. She also hailed from the valley of the Thousand Hills and was a doting mother. For Sithelo, all these clues screamed one name: Jessica Nkosi.
Somizi was on the same Jessica page, but Devi joined J’Someehing in deducting that Ice Cream was Thando Thabethe. Devi changed her mind following the hints of Ice Cream’s Christmas celebrations. Still, Skhumba stuck to Tumi Morake, the name he had written down several times during the competition.
Once Ice-Cream was unmasked, KZN girl Sithelo confessed: “I could feel her. I could feel Durban.”
Jessica thanked a defeated J’Something, who never came close to guessing that she was Ice Cream, for praising the tone of her voice and couldn’t wait for her kids to find out that she was on The Masked Singer South Africa. “My daughter was obsessed with the show’s first season, and she’ll be so surprised that Ice Cream was her mommy.”
Jessica’s daughter and fans will see her on television again soon. On Saturday, she will be the celebrity in the hot seat playing for charity on Deal or No Deal South Africa.
Proudly sponsored by AndolexÒ, The Masked Singer South Africa is screened on S3 on Saturdays at 18:30. The rebroadcasts are on SABC 1 on Thursdays at 21:00 and S3 on Fridays at 18:00.
