Power couple working on new production

Andile Ndlovu

SILVERSCREEN power couple Shona and Connie Ferguson will not be quiet for too long after M-Net's The Wild ends this month.

The pair have been quietly shooting a new drama series called Black Diamonds, via their own production company Ferguson Films, for sister channel Mzansi Magic.

The channel has kept the news under wraps, and the cast has been ordered not to share any details.

The Fergusons have remained mum, even after many wondered what would happen to the cast of The Wild, which fizzled out sooner than expected after it was announced in August that it would be canned due to spiralling production costs.

But it appears the DStv pay channel is making amends by redirecting the vast funds spent on The Wild production into the upcoming show, slated for a May premiere. It is a star-studded cast too, a source revealed yesterday.

It seemed a harmless question when Minnie Dlamini was asked about the secret to her weight loss, during the launch of Mzansi Magic's new telenovela Isibaya on Tuesday.

She said: "I consciously started losing the weight in July last year, because I wanted to look and feel good, but I had to be mindful of Zintle's [her character on The Wild] journey. Soon after The Wild wrapped, I found out I was to play a new character – in preparation I started channelling her, mentally and physically, and the weight loss has become part of that preparation."

It all made sense when the source confirmed that Dlamini would be reuniting with the Fergusons for Black Diamonds. TV presenter Boity Thulo, stand-up comic Tumi Morake, actors Kenneth Nkosi and Luthuli Dlamini, and Bonnie Henna are also part of the cast.