Bonko Khoza Reveals Struggles of Playing Mqhele in The Wife
Bonko Khoza has shed more light on why he left the popular Showmax series The Wife in which he portrayed one of the main characters Mqhele.
Khoza’s decision to exit The Wife caught fans by surprise. In a recent interview, Bonko Khoza said of all the characters he’s played, portraying Mqhele Zulu in the Showmax original series The Wife was among the hardest.
Bonko Khoza on The Struggles of Portraying Mqhele on ‘The Wife’
According to Khoza, embodying the character of Mqhele took a toll on his mental well-being because it required him to be someone completely different from his real self.
“Committing to a guy like Mqhele from a psychological point of view and from an appearance point of view, there was work we had to do [to get fans to differentiate between the two]. Mqhele was hard-core. We built Mqhele so far from Bonko that I could spare myself,” he told TshisaLIVE.
The Quest for Self-Preservation
In August 2022, Bonko bid farewell to the series after portraying Mqhele for two seasons. Wiseman Mcube was later confirmed as his replacement for future seasons. When asked about his decision to leave the show, Bonko Khoza emphasized the importance of prioritizing mental health.
“Mental health comes first for everybody. I wasn’t in a good space … was it the fame, workload or fatigue? I think it was a combination of things. I think the point is I didn’t see myself fit to deliver to the people who look up to me. I don’t ever want to feel I’m doing things for money. I never want to shortchange people who support me, and in that same breath, I want to preserve myself for them because I can be Mqhele forever or realise that I’m only 32 and there’s so much more. Things are going to come, but Bonko is only one n*gg*, so if I compromise my mental health or myself for one job, I am denying the audience a lifelong experience,|” Khoza said.
