- Siv Ngesi loves a challenge - and his schedule is enough to make you sweat.
- Apart from a gruelling acting schedule, he also makes time for lots of other things, including pole-dancing and dressing in drag.
- The dynamic performer has eaten a lot of egg whites recently - litres of the stuff.
- For more stories go to www.BusinessInsider.co.za.
Last year Sivuyile "Siv" Ngesi set out on a rigorous training and diet programme over 11 weeks to transform his body for a fitness challenge. In that time, he ate 2,541 egg whites, 55.44kgs of hake, 18. 48kgs of chicken breasts and spent 154 hours in the gym.
And for 77 days, not a single refined carb or any sugar made its way past his lips.
During the same year, he took up pole-dancing – and introduced his drag persona Sivanna. It wasn't without some controversy. In an interview with The Sowetan, Ngesi said he didn't create the persona to make any point but wanted to show young boys that they could be anything they wanted.
"What people think of you has nothing to do with you. I just want to wear a dress and I want to live in a world where you can just wear a dress and people don't need to think that 'he's trying to make a statement."
Ngesi is also an outspoken advocate for the eradication of period poverty, as a brand ambassador for the MENstruation Foundation, and has also launched a coffee brand in association with Bean Authentic which will donate R100 per sale towards this cause.
On top of a gruelling acting schedule, the dynamic performer is always up for a new challenge. "I think I definitely love challenges because I think there is something about overcoming challenges that makes you feel even better," Ngesi told Business Insider SA.
"I'm all about being a coal and being put under pressure and challenge and then I become a diamond on the other side. One thing I've learnt from life – I didn't have the easiest life growing up – is the possibilities of overcoming challenges. I wish people could understand if you just put in the work, achievement and success is just on the other side. I never rest on my laurels."
Here are 10 things you may or may not know about this dynamic performer.
Siv has mad baking skills – so 77 days without sugar must have been hell.
'Period poverty, we are coming for you.' The MENstruation foundation, which supplies disadvantaged schools with sanitary pad vending machines now impacts over 10,500 women a month. It is a number Ngesi hopes will triple in six months.
Chucky, My girl , IT , Lion King, and Freddy Kruger gave him sleepless nights as a kid.
He will be starring in a Viola Davis film, slated for release in September 2022.
CASTING NEWS:
— Kgopolo (@PhilMphela) January 25, 2022
Siv Ngesi stars in The Woman King
Ngesi is part of the star studded cast of the Viola Davis led film.
Ngesi plays a supporting lead in the film, — which is slated for release in September 2022. #KgopoloReports pic.twitter.com/TDQsDnYCKI
In 2022, his new challenge will be playing squash.
While on one of his worst diets he consumed a lot of egg whites... in the realm of a litre a day for just over 20 days. They were cooked, though, he assures us.
He took gold at Pole Dancing Nationals in the Semi-professional category – just 9 months after taking up the sport.
He really like motor bikes, and says his two wheels is his therapy. His bike is called Khetiwe.
Sivanna is a mad DHL Stormers fan – watch her do a tour of the team's new home at Cape Town stadium.
His secret weapon… is his mom… Zanele Ngesi. She is saved on his WhatsApp as Mom vip.
