For the first time, Uganda’s most paid TV Presenter has spoken out about the world many people never knew about the TV Industry in Uganda.
The expose comes at a peak of the TV wars in Uganda as NBS TV and NTV each struggle for attention. In her expose, Sheilah talks of the time she was earning just UGX 50,000 per show.
“Even when I did the fashion show on NTV, I was being paid UGX 100K per show. That meant UGX 400K a month yet I was living a million shilling lifestyle. I was literally faking it all through. My makeup was at UGX 80K. That means I was earning 20K per show. Add in transport, add in every other thing, I was paying to be on TV,” Sheilah narrates.
“Right now, I would rather be a good house wife to God’s Plan than pretend to be a TV Presenter. Fame did not pay my bills, God’s Plan does,” Sheilah continues.
According to Sheilah, many female TV Presenters are using the platform to engage in escorting business. In the end everyone became a dealer of sorts. You know what they say about every female celeb in Uganda having a price, it is so true for female presenters in Uganda.
You can imagine some were going for as low as 100K for a night. “The fame is a lie. It puts you up there with nothing in your pockets. My father was footing most of my bills. The brand ambassador gigs were also a lie. Even my hair extension business just didn’t work out. I chose to settle at home and cook for my man,” Sheilah told our reporter.
But many have criticized Sheilah for coming out at this time. “That ka girl is just ungrateful. She doesn’t realize that it is because of TV that we got to know her. Without TV, she would be nothing. She would have never met the celebs that bought her hair extensions. She would not even have met God’s Plan. She is just forgetful or plain ignorant. Media exposed her to us. She can’t turn around and cut the hand that once fed her.
You see she can’t fathom the fact the Bettinah Tianah has thrived better than her. She hates competition. She hates to see her age mates doing better. Yes, Bettinah realized that media gives you the platform to do even bigger things. For her she was short-sighted. That girl tayagaliza. She was the reason Kleith failed on TV,” a source close to her told our reporter.
Many say that Sheilah is feeling beaten that she is nowhere in this moment when new names such as Lyndah Ddane are trending. She can’t believe Zaharah Toto is now a bigger name than her. And that is why she is speaking out. She is trying to put down the TV presenters and steal the show. She is afraid everyone will soon forget about her. “You see she went on TikTok and failed. She tried to do a YouTube channel, that also failed. Now her last try I at pretending to be exposing the untold stories in the media industry. But people in glass houses should not throw stones. We even know what she used to do in South Africa. We also know how she was surviving. She should go slow. All that information we have but we chose to keep quiet,” an annoyed TV Presenter told us.
To be continued…