Part of the Cast of Kampala Creme. PHOTO | ANDREW KAGGWA.
When the previous season of Kampala Creme wrapped, the final episode came with a press release. This was from one of the show’s cast and probably the most beloved of them, Etania Mutoni; she announced that she was leaving the reality show after two seasons.
“After two incredible and unforgettable seasons, I’ve made the heartfelt and difficult decision to step away from Kampala Crème. This journey has been nothing short of extraordinary, and I’m forever grateful for the opportunity to have been part of something so special. I want to extend my deepest thanks to Multichoice for believing in me and giving me the chance to share my life with the world, tell my story my way and to connect with all of you, the fans, who have shown so much love and support throughout this experience.”
She was the second member of the reality show to leave after Baby Gloria left shortly after the show had started airing. At the time, Gloria had almost shaped herself into a screen darling with one-liners that always caught the viewer by surprise, and of course, she was one of those mysteries on the show.
Then there was Etania, at the beginning of season one, she was hard to figure out but then she blossomed into a star of the show, not for one liners only, but everything from screen presence, the laughter, personality and sheer relatability. Etania became that member of the cast who is famous for being a DJ and media personality but was still down to earth and usually made you feel like she was struggling like most young Ugandans. Unlike her cast mates who always talked a big game, she was the one who did not have this whole life figured out. In one of the episodes Zahara Toto, also a member of the cast says Etania was a moving financial crisis who drives a cheap car, wears cheap clothes and never has money. And she never shied away from being the broke person on the set; in one of the episodes she was seen house hunting and she reacted when the broker told her rent was Shs2.5m a month. If it were Zahara, Mami Deb, Baby Gloria or later Laika, most of them would have reacted like this was the cheapest apartment on earth.
Thus, the fact that Etania was the person many saw themselves in made her such a screen darling even before anything, for them, she was real, she was a Ugandan youth forging their way to the top, and at her terms. Last week Kampala Creme season three was announced at MultiChoice Offices in Kololo, the show will return to the Pearl Magic Prime screens on June 1. One of the things we learnt was the fact that it is not only Etania who will not return for season three, Laika who replaced Baby Gloria will too not be available for the new season.
The new season introduced three new cast members, socialite and entrepreneur, Sheena Holm, TV host and influencer Umrah Murungi, and entrepreneur, Prima Nassozi alias Prima Kardashi, who will join Zahara and Mami Deb. Sheena and Umrah are the kind of women Kampala Creme is tailored for, they are slick, fast forward, outspoken and bougie. Then, there is Prima Kardashi. She rose to fame as partner to singer Geosteady and then there was her other lover Mr Henrie; basically this is how she landed into the gossip social media pages.
Unlike all the other people on the show, Prima is the total started from the bottom, now we are here. Even when no one believes we are here. Prima has the money, and the fame now but there are places and rooms she feels like she is not welcome. During the launch in Kololo, at least two of the cast members joked about the fact that she does not understand all the English being spoken. Prima brings to Kampala Creme the hustle, she is the face of people who were not invited to the table and they made their tables or became the whole damn table. She knows everyone on the show believes they are better than her and if any of the outbursts with Zahara are anything to go by, she knows they also think she is too old, but she’s claiming that place, whether they want it or not.
She’s the kind doors have been slammed in their face and was always told she cannot make it, her anthem is Mun*G and Naava Grey’s Champion, a song which talks about an aspiring rapper who steps on stage and the crowd drives them off, yet years later, he’s the same person whose name they cheer for. Prima even at the unveiling talked about her journey and the disbelief that she would have her face on a billboard somewhere in Kampala. Her story and gratitude of making it this far are something that many Ugandans can relate to, besides that, her romantic stories with already famous people already splashes a lot of drama around her. Prima is chaos, and probably the right mix for cringeworthy TV, especially for many who do not relate to the whole planned child narrative. She is a champion.
