We are proud to share that Jolene has received a Best Actress nomination for her role in the hit series Arendsvlei! 

I'm so excited to share with you a review and video clip about a new show I'm starring in called Arendsvlei! 

Arendsvlei is the story of a semi-private high school on the Cape Flats that is managed by the Cupido family. We follow a brother and sister, both teachers who are committed to making a difference by exposing as many learners as possible in the community to a quality education.

Read the full review here.

It was a super chilly Sunday night and I was curled up on the couch trying to stave off the Highveld frostbite (okay, no more melodrama I promise) when the legendary Doreen Morris called. She was filming a documentary on the life of Johaar Mosavel. Johaar was the first black principal dancer in the Royal Ballet Company and, as Doreen's investigation research uncovered, was my ballet teacher from the age of 4. I was gobsmacked. Over the years, I'd found myself wondering how Mr Mosavel was doing and here The Law of Attraction was bending the universe in my favour. I was going to reconnect not only with a man who holds hero status in my life but also... I expected to rediscover the little girl in me. Essentially, this was a trip back into time...

I was naturally, beside myself with excitement & retold the story to absolutely anyone who would listen & blasted it across social media. Well, the good people at The Best Western Cape Suites caught wind of my upcoming trip & VERY generously offered me a complimentary stay for the duration of my visit. Here's the mindboggling bit... I was born in Cape Town & I stay in different parts of the Cape when I visit, but never before have I stayed in Zonnebloem, where The Best Western Cape Suites are located. Zonnebloem made up part of the historic site of District Six. Johaar Mosavel was born in District Six! My father was born in no.5 Milton Road District Six!! I dont have enough exclamations marks for this part of the story!!! When you stay at The Best Western Cape Suites, you can walk to the District Six Museum:-)

Dear fellow earth wanderer...be warned ... the luxurious linen in your Best Western Cape Suite embodies a special ability to make you feel like you've been accepted into its 'fold' (see what I did there?).. and leaving will not be easy! I was motivated to get out of bed because I was set to meet Mr Mosavel shortly. I decided that I was going to salute him with a bouquet of Proteas, the national flower, because I sincerely believe that he is a national treasure. And where do you buy flowers when in Cape Town? The Adderley Street Flower market of course! The flower sellers are renowned for having a sense of humour second to none but because I've been around them since being a kid, I thought I'd heard it all. Was I wrong! I told the ladies that the proteas were for Johaar Mosavel and I was met with "Nee my kind, daaisie hoe jy dit se nie" (translated: no my child, that's not how you say it) they tried to correct my pronunciation for about 12 minutes. I'm sure I'm still saying it wrong:-)

I said I wouldn't cry (see how glassy my eyes look below?). Mr Mosavel's presence is that of Michael Jordan in flight on a rebound shot but he's real height belies his gigantic aura. I last saw him before I hit my teens and I couldn't believe how little he changed. Zero change in fact. The documentary director asked me to remove my shoes so that she could fit us both into the shot and I promptly removed my heels while saying "a dancer's feet are never cute but today I'm standing with the man who's responsible for these toes". Mr Mosavel glanced down at my feet and said in sheer delight " Yes! those are absolutely my feet". Doreen carried out the interview and one question asked was "What is Mr Mosavels legacy?". I answered:"Myself and all the children he's trained...WE are his legacy!" Johaar, I honour and Salute you.

So, dear friends… welcome to my first official blog post. I can't possibly relate my excitement in words, so visualize me jumping up and down! Firstly, I must introduce you to a lead character in the movie of my life. Drum roll please...I've been getting umpteen enquiries about the dashing man that I've been spotted around town with and he is none other than my handsome cousin, Ashmund Martin. From here on in we'll call him Ash. 

Last week Ash (dressed by PalesHomme) and I attended the Eighth Annual You Spectacular. It was my first YouSpec and I was beyond thrilled to be dressed by the phenomenal JJ Schoeman who also dressed our current Miss South Africa, Melinda Bam. I had the privilege of interviewing Melinda on Psalted a few months ago and we clicked immediately. Boy oh boy, did she rock that frock! JJ told me last night, at the Opening of "Burn The Floor", that he was "So proud of his girls". *Big smile*Back to the YouSpec... I made some new friends and hugged some old ones. Bianca Le Grange and I hugged for the longest time while admiring each others dresses.  My newest friend is the fabulously witty El Broide who is the entertainment editor at People magazine. He interviewed me for a feature today which will be on sale on August 24th (grab that and drop me a tweet with your thoughts). 

Just one question about the YouSpec... Was Jeannie D miming to that opening song? Hmmmm... *wondering*. 
I really look forward to sharing all my adventures with you and don't forget to share yours with me @_JoleneMartin. God bless.

PS: Burn The Floor incinerated the building last night *drops mic and exits stage left*

Welcome and thank you for visiting the brand new Jolene Martin website. Zircon Digital eMarketing Agency (a sponsor of Jolene) has been hard at work busy designing and developing this website over the past few weeks and we are now all proud to officially launch it. 

Please enjoy exploring Jolene's new space on the web and and feel free to leave your feedback and comments where possible.


A bit about Jolene Martin...
Jolene Martin is a television personality, anchor, MC and businesswoman. Best known for being the current host of South Africa’s version of the international lottery game show Powerball. 

She has graced our screens for over 17 years, since the birth of her career as a ‘child presenter’ in Cape Town. She honed her skills as a sitcom actress, working with some of the countries finest producers and directors. 

Jolene thinks her career started at age 13 when she was first spotted by a television producer, but it really started way back when she was  4 or 5 years old and Johaar Mosaval , star of the Royal Ballet, took her into one of his classes because her mother told him that this little girl had a very special quality about her dancing.  This was confirmed hundreds of times over during her developing years, particularly by the very visionary church community she was raised in.  Each member of the family was immersed in the arts department of this vibrant church and her sister and brother followed her by leading large hip-hop dance teams in turn.  

By the time she was “spotted” she already had several key theatrical skills under her belt.  What followed were television presenting opportunities on “Eco-Vision”, a youth environmental awareness programme and also “2-Cool”.  On stage her high school years saw her playing lead roles in musicals like “Chicago” (sponsored by VW’s Musicative Programme) and “Sound of Music” for her high school, Sans Souci Girls High.  

It is rare that one comes across an individual who can write her own songs, sing, dance, choreograph her own stage performances and then not the least of which act and present in both English and Afrikaans, but this early exposure and her own responsiveness to brilliant teaching explains much of it.  A director’s dream, it was said of her.