I loved being a watermelon, says Devi Govender

Devi Govender got to live her childhood dream of performing Dancing Queen by Abba on The Masked Singer SA. 

The seasoned broadcaster is the latest star to be unmasked from the local spin-off of the global phenomenon as the prolific face behind the watermelon.  

Govender joins the warrior (Mmusi Maimane), football (Doctor Khumalo), zebra (The Lazy Makoti), rooster (Victor Matfield), banana (Bongani Bingwa) and hippo (David Kau) as the eliminated contestants.      

“I was emceeing an event and I received a video from Anele Mdoda via WhatsApp, it was about The Masked Singer, and seeing that I was a fan of the American version, I told her, ‘I hope you’re going to be bringing it to SA’, which she replied saying that she was. I then got a message from her two days later asking me if I was keen to be on the show,” she says.

“Anele then assured me that I’d have fun on the show, and because I love jumping off cliffs (metaphorically) I said ‘Yes’. I love pushing myself and going into spaces that are not ordinary֪ – with this, I figured out that that’s the only way you can grow as a person.

“The majority of the things that I do now was from just saying ‘Yes’ even though I don’t have the skill to do it... It’s very important to keep yourself on your toes.” 

Although Govender sang and gave her performance her all, she couldn’t fool the detectives Somizi Mhlongo, J’Something and Sithelo Shozi, who hit the nail on the head when they guessed that the pint-sized newshound was the public figure behind the mask.  

“It was an amazing opportunity to be a part of this massive production, however, I am quite relieved that it’s all over and that South Africans have seen the episode. I’m generally confident but can’t say much about my singing,” Govender laughs.   

“In my head I thought they were going to use a digital enhancement to change my voice when I’m singing but that was not the case. I started loosening up a bit during recordings but funny enough I wouldn’t sleep the night before my performance... I was so nervous about how I’d sound.” 

Singing was not the only challenge for Govender , she also had to manoeuvre a costume that  weighed at least 20kg.

“I thought I was going to choose my costume but they bluffed me. I remember looking at the costume and thinking: ‘Are you crazy, look at my size... how am I going to wear such a big and heavy thing?’”

“The costume was very heavy and I had three fans inside it to keep me cool. The watermelon was done a disservice because it was the hardest costume to perform in without a doubt. My legs, wrist and hands were the only things out and I couldn’t move anything else or move around too much or else I’d topple over– that was quite challenging.”

Singing Abba was Govender’s highlight on the show. 

“My sister and I had Abba’s LP, this was when we had no Netflix, DStv, movies or even social media. Here are two girls from rural KwaZulu-Natal dancing to these songs like crazy. We’d pretend that we had our own disco in front of people... those were very special times.”  

The award-winning journalist says she is glad she achieved her game plan, which was to make it to the top 10.  

“The majority of people and viewers of my show don’t think I'm funny, so I wanted to show them that I have a different side to my personality, which is quite fun. Those who watch my show, The Devi Show, on e.tv, know the funny side of me,” she says.