Unathi Nkayi bares her soul on 'Behind The Story'

Pearl Thusi and Unathi Nkyai. Picture: Supplied

Pearl Thusi and Unathi Nkyai. Picture: Supplied

Published Sep 26, 2019

Share

"Idols SA" judge Unathi Nkayi appeared on "Behind The Story" and opened up about cyberbullying and her public divorce from Thomas Msengana. 

In the episode, Unathi opened up about her start in the entertainment industry and how she ended up in music. 

The "Nguwe" singer got emotional when she talked about how she would repeatedly open for John Legend and get a standing ovation from music icon Quincy Jones, but would be attacked online by "women who told themselves that they were better singers" than her.  

She said that when she was able to push the negativity away, she realised she wanted to be a musician and move people with her voice.

Speaking about a dark time in her life, Unathi opened up about her suspension from Metro FM in 2015 after a Twitter user posted their direct message exchange in which Unathi referred to them as a "psycho b**ch". 

This led to the creation of her song "Sonini" with DJ Melon that he wrote for her to emotionally work through her dark time. She mentioned that while recording the song she sobbed uncontrollably to convey the true emotion of the song. 

Unathi revealed that she left Twitter due to people being "vicious" and "cruel". She is not letting people have that much access to her. 

She spoke about her court battle against the woman that accused her of harassment, how her father was by her side during her court appearances and how much that meant to her

Speaking about the divorce she said that she was best friends with her ex-husband Thomas, but as time went on they grew apart. 

She revealed that she kept Msengana's surname for her kids. However, for her professional life and in her day-to-day she still uses Nkyai. 

Tweeps weighed on Unathi's openness and shared their thoughts about the episode. 

%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/BehindTheStory?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BehindTheStorybut I love how that has moved and made @Unathi_Africa even stronger🔥🔥❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️.

— Yaya (@Yaya_Brainz)

%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/BehindTheStory?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BehindTheStory

— Lindy Ntsoko🇿🇦 (@LindyNtsoko)

%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/BehindTheStory?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BehindTheStorywhat Unathi did in this interview is amazing! She has freed so many women, she has shown us that it's okay not to be okay..that there is strength in acceptance! @PearlThusi

— Mmotseng Mokoena (@AskMjayOnce)

%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/BehindTheStory?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BehindTheStorythe way she acknowledged that she also played a part in the separation and how they had both grown but unfortunately their paths led them separate ways :) so mature.

— Gloria (@glows05)

%%%twitter https://twitter.com/PearlThusi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PearlThusi #BehindTheStory

— 👑Ohemaa👑 (@ines_daisy)

Related Topics:

pearl thusi