The fifth season of the interior design reality show Win a Home continues to be as popular as ever. It all comes to a conclusion during the exciting Grand Finale that will be broadcast on Thursday 13 December at 19h30 on SABC3.
ALSO READ: WIN A HOME Design Duos Show Off Incredible Interiors As Finale Draws Near
Over the past 11 weeks, the Win a Home design duos, Rekopile Belebesi and Koketso Marole (team R&K), Kehumile Mate and Nicholas Smit (team Contrast Control) and Melissa Oosthuizen and Sinead Turner (team Perma Peeps), have transformed three white-box penthouse apartments at Balwin Properties’ Paardevlei Lifestyle Estate in Somerset West into spectacular designer homes fitted with the latest connected appliances from Samsung, in the show’s fifth season, proudly brought to you by Capitec Bank and Private Property.
This season saw Danilo Acquisto return to his position as host of the show where he, alongside co-host Thabiso Makhubela, joined the design duos as they embarked on a transformation of a lifetime.
Five Minutes With Danilo Acquisto:
Why do you think a show like ‘Win A Home’ is so entertaining to watch?
I think it’s the sheer awe of the design inspiration and the personalities of the design duos. Some watch solely to inspire their own design ideas and some for the drama of the duos and the journey they go through.What drew you to host a show like ‘Win A Home’?
What could be more rewarding then handing over a set of keys to someone who truly deserves them? The joy that I get to change a life in an instant was part of it but also because I am a huge advocate of creative expression as an entrepreneurial vehicle for the youth, this show lets me get a glimpse into the immense talent and drive that comes from the South African creative industry. It’s inspiring!
What, in your opinion, do the design duos battle with the most when starting the design process?
Their biggest challenge from my perspective has to be their time, budget and creative management. Keeping their ideas on trend, on time and for the right price is a tough balance to strike especially when resources are tight and you have cameras following you everywhere. It’s not as simple as a design show – the pressure is enormous!
If you were to design an apartment of your own on the show, what approach would you take to the overall theme of the apartment?
I am a hoarder by nature. I would create simple living spaces that are customisable and feel warm. Minimalism mixed with afro-chic would be my aesthetic I think – imagine lots of natural colours, plants, raw metals, African prints and hints of colour with clever mechanisms and lots of space to breathe.
The show is live every Thursday night and live TV is something you’ve become used to. What do you love the most about live television?
It’s the most challenging way to produce TV and I absolutely love a challenge. It is raw, fast paced, natural and you don’t have to wait around and do the same thing from multiple angles over and over again – I am a get in, get out kinda guy when it comes to TV. I grew up on and was trained in live TV – there is just something so magical about that count down and the red light coming on – it’s such an intimate and adrenaline seeking way of doing content.
As the ‘Win A Home’ finale draws near, what can fans expect from you in 2019?
I am heavily focused on my YouTube Specialist company – Special Effects Media. I will still remain on radio but I am not going to jump back into TV (until the next season of Win A Home) which is sad in some aspects because it has been such an integral part of my journey but also exciting as I take the next step towards new media, entrepreneurship and adulting to the extreme. I will always love broadcast so let’s see what happens.
Meanwhile, the design duos continue to battle it out for two prizes. In the main Judges’ Choice prize, our esteemed judges will critique every single aspect of the designer homes and will essentially decide which duo will walk away with the R100 000 grand prize. Then, the team who accumulated the most votes throughout the season in the viewers competition will win a R20 000 cash prize.
But the big winner is the lucky viewer who, from the six finalists randomly drawn, will win their choice of one of the three penthouse apartments, as decorated by the design duos, at Balwin Properties’ Paardevlei Lifestyle Estate. It’s a prize valued at over R3 million, which makes it the largest prize on South African television. Win a Home is truly a show that changes lives forever.
Win a Home, proudly brought to you by Capitec Bank and Private Property, airs every Thursday at 19:30 on SABC 3.
Image Courtesy: Supplied