She's been in the spotlight for over 13 years, since her voice first hit the airwaves on Voice of Soweto - a gig she landed when she was in Grade 12.
Since then she's been a signature voice on MetroFM, she's judged on Idols, been a guest on various shows, presented others in between, MC'd award ceremonies, travelled our airports in Beyond The Runway and of course she's now hosting SABC2's Motswako.
Penny Lebyane has to go down as one of the most consistently public figures in the entertainment industry. With her being so "out there" and having said so much over the years, I thought it would be juicy for us to scoop what she hasn't spoken about yet. Her secrets:
Tashi: You’ve done so much: TV, radio shows, award ceremonies in between. What secret ambition do you have that you haven’t done yet?
Penny: I wanna write a book. About my experiences in the South African entertainment industry.
Tashi: Will you spill the secrets about everyone you know? And then they’ll never talk to ever you again, haha.
Penny: Mmmmm ... maybe. I’ll turn it into a movie and go live in LA. Then they won’t bother me. *laughs*
Tashi: You’ll be like Richard E. Grant - the Swaziland actor who wrote a biography about his Hollywood experiences - the things he said about Madonna and others - after the book was published I don’t think he ever got acting work again.
Penny: *laughs* Well, mmm, okay, I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.
Tashi: What will the title of the book be?
Penny: Penny Lane - the name of my first radio show on Metro.
Penny out and about at a shindig with Bassie Kumalo in 2007.
Tashi: What’s the most difficult thing about being you?
Penny: Shucks, one thing is that I’m too accommodating. Like I go out of my way to accommodate people. Sometimes when I go out of my way, people don’t “get” that - it’s almost like I’m a bit overbearing, I’m just trying to accommodate.
I wanna make sure that everyone is comfortable. I don’t know ... I think because people have said that I tend to be unapproachable so sometimes I really go out of my way and that can be too much for people.
Tashi: What’s the easiest thing about being you?
Penny: I guess that I fit in to any environment - like I come in, I just fit in, I’m there and before you know it I’m part of things.
Tashi: Can you tell us one thing about yourself that no-one else knows?
Penny: Mmmm. Ai, ai, ai ... there are a lot of things man. I’m a very regular girl - I’m not the Penny in the magazines. I don’t live in magazines. I’m as ordinary as they come. I walk around with my hair unbrushed.
I forget that I’m famous. I don’t see myself as famous. The girl that I work with on Motswako always says: “You forget that you’re on TV.” And I’m
really not saying this because I want to be “real” or anything. *laughs*
People sometimes expect me to be a certain way - when people are on TV many people say it’s an act but for me, it’s not an act, it’s real. I forget that I’m on TV and radio and that people see me as a celebrity - it’s a job.
It can be draining because you should go into a job and come out of it but I don’t know how to come out of it. I bring all of me into it.
Tashi: Have you ever used your celebrity status for anything?
Penny: No, I’m always scared of being found out.
Tashi: Of what? That they'll know you’re trying to “get” something?
Penny: I’m really terrified - I’m not as bold as people think I am.
Tashi: Do you feel very watched?
Penny: No I don’t - when I’m on TV and radio I don’t. I don’t think, “Millions of people know me”.
Tashi: And in the world?
Penny: No - people will wave at me and I’ll be like “Why is he waving at me, he doesn’t even know me?”
Penny at the 2009 SAFTAs
Tashi: You’ve won
Snaparazzi’s Most Booblicious Award numerous times. At the end of last year you made the Top 10 pics of the Year ‘cos of your fab cleavage in your outfits. What secret tips do you have to be booblicious?
Penny: I just think, find your own signature style and stick to it. That’s really what it is - I like dresses that show my curves - some of my boobliciousness comes from breastfeeding. I think, don’t try too hard, I’m always looking for something that I’m confortable with, that isn’t tacky - find something that works for you.
Tashi: Could you tell us about your current squeeze?
Penny: My current squeeze is Jesus Christ. Nobody else. That’s who my current squeeze is.
Tashi: As a celebrity, do you find that it’s difficult finding lurve or a relationship?
Penny: I’m one of those people that ... people say that I’m unapproachable - I don’t get asked out. *laughs*.
Tashi: So guys think that you’re unapproachable?
Penny: I think that maybe I’m too focused on what I’m doing so even if people are flirting with me I don’t pick it up. Also, being in the entertainment industry, getting into it as young as I did, you sort of build this exterior to protect yourself.
I think that’s probably what I’ve done so I don’t ... people don’t come up to me and say: “Yo, can I can take you out on a date?” That never happens to me.
Tashi: Being a celebrity, if someone pursues you - do you always wonder whether it’s for you or because of the image they have of you; or because you’re famous? You’d never be able to tell?
Penny: Yah - and then when you’re in a relationship you find yourself doing everything to make sure it works because ... yah, *laughs.*
Tashi: What secret do you know now, that you wish you’d known when you were at high school?
Penny: That tomorrow will still come. Like I don’t have to do everything today, here, now. There’s no need for me to feel under pressure about anything - I can give myself another chance, like I’m not competing with anyone, tomorrow - there’s still another chance.
Tashi: Where did you buy your hidden gem blue nail polish that you were wearing to the TopTV launch?
Penny: China Town ... China Town in Main Reef, next to Gold Reef City.
Tashi: What secretly thrills you?
Penny: I like being spontaneous. I can’t be boxed in - I hate being boxed in. Every day I go out of my way to be myself and it’s a constant challenge because either you fit in here, or you don’t fit in there so that’s my thing.
Tashi: It’s like no-one can ever be
enough of anything to fit in exactly. You can never be rich enough, successful enough, you can’t be enough of a perfect friend, husband, girlfriend, actor, sportsman - whatever it is, it's not possible - all one can do is be you.
Penny: That’s the thing I wake up with every day, just to be me and in time I’ve realised that the journey of my life is that. When I try
not to be me, my life becomes difficult. When I don’t express myself, I feel like I’ve been silenced.
I don’t fit into that whole celebrity thing - I don’t have a clique, I try to get along with anybody, I’m not fighting with anyone, I’m excited for everyone. Sometimes I get cheated and then I cry but it’s okay - I get up and do it again. I’m like: “Let’s just move on.”
I don’t want to seen at the right places for the sake of looking a certain way. My career shouldn’t depend on whether or not I go to five parties a week - people say I’m difficult, arrogant, they’ve called me the “B” word but I’m not - and I don’t apologise for who I am. When I was younger I felt the pressure to do it, but now I don’t.
Tashi: It’s all an illusion isn’t it? Everything that’s set up socially has been created by someone somewhere who has some sort of hidden agenda.*laughs*
Penny: Yes, until you’ve been a psychiatrist’s ward you wouldn’’t appreciate that. I’ve been, it’s not worth it.
Tashi: Did you really have a breakdown as a result of the pressure of what you “need” to be?
Penny: I did, it was after I had my baby, it was a build-up of things that I’d bottled up and it had nothing to do with my baby. I got to that place where I was like “I’m not bottling up anything for whatever reason anymore and I’m not fighting with anyone.”
I got to a place where I was like: “If someone doesn’t want to respect my values, I’m not going to fight it. It's not worth me losing sleep over it.” I say to people: “Do you. I’ll do me.”
Penny at the 2009 SAMAs, snapped by Cande.
Tashi: Who would you secretly love to have as a guest on Motswako who you haven’t chatted to yet?
Penny: I’d like to have Winnie Mandela. I’d like to have her on to talk about what it was like being a single mom in the ‘70’s. That would be very interesting - I think she’d have some tips she could share with us younger, single mothers of today. The others are too controversial.*laughs*
Tashi: No - you can’t say that. You have to tell.
Penny: No, no, no - I can’t say.
Tashi: Are they so controversial that they’d never be on?
Penny: Yah.
Tashi: Who could be so controversial? ... the fight for freedom of speech. It’s like a constant fight just to
not be controversial or to just say what you think.
Penny: For me, I think there’s a difference between being controversial and being truthful. I go out of my way to be truthful and if that causes controversy, I’ve got no control over it.
Tashi: Have you been involved in a controversy that’s stuck with you?
Penny: Nah, not really, but “controversial” is a word that people like to throw when my name is mentioned and I don’t think that I’m controversial. I just like to be truthful about something.
An example, one time there was a Miss Teen who was pregnant. I went to Miss SA Teen, I watched the show and said: “This girl is pregnant.” And everyone was like “How can you say she’s pregnant?! - you don’t know, wadda, wadda, wadda,”
I was like “Okay fine, if she’s not, she looks pregnant and she’s a teenager - can someone explain that?” It so happened that three months later it came out that she was pregnant - so I wasn’t being controversial, I just said it as I saw it.
Before the news was out people were like: “How could she go on air and say that?” and afterwards no-one came to me and said: “Oh you were right.” It’s not like I think “How can I stir up controversy?” There’s definitely a difference between truthful and controversial.
Tashi: Do you ever feel afraid that you’re gonna say the “wrong” thing? Do you ever hold yourself back?
Penny: Yes, I have managed to hold myself back - exercising restrain is a good quality to have. I used to be afraid of saying the wrong thing but in time I’ve grown comfortable with myself to know how to say what I want to say without offending people.
There’s a thin line you know - it’s
how you say it. So long as I’m not degrading anyone. Stick to the facts. I would never make a statement like: “That was worst song ever.” Rather: “That was a terrible song.” and then quantify it. If you say “ever” you’re making a definitive statement - that there will never be a worse song.
Tashi: Don’t you think that people take what people say too seriously? Even if you were to say it was the worst song ever, it adds emphasis to how terrible it is. They’re just words that come and go.
Penny: But there is power in our words. They don’t just come and go - especially in the media, it’s not just words. You need to exercise restraint, even if you criticise someone, criticise what they’re doing - don’t break the person down.
That’s what I’ve learnt to do - for me, I don’t have a problem with people taking it too seriously because then it means that people need to realise the power of their words. When someone writes it online or in print and the public reads it, it’s fact. It’s part of that person’s history.
Tashi: What about opinion though?
Penny: But you need to quantify it - you can’t just say: “Penny’s a terrible actress,” because then I can say: “She’s a brilliant actress,” and that’s just a pointless conversation.
Tashi: What’s your best kept beauty secret?
Penny: Olive oil - put it in on your food, if you can, drink it, put it on your skin.
Tashi: I once tried drinking fish oil and it’s terrible.
Penny: Yah, olive oil’s good.
Tashi: So you’re not gonna tell us your controversial guest list?
Penny: No, no.
Tashi: Fair enough - we’ll leave you with
one secret.
Ends