It was a nice experience being the 'Star' of Masked Singer SA – LaConco

Somizi Mhlongo might have been able to guess his Metro FM co-host Khutso Theledi last week, but he failed to ace it with close friend Nonkanyiso "LaConco" Conco as the mysterious celebrity behind the identity of "Star" on The Masked Singer SA.

The former The Real Housewives of Durban cast member became the fourth star to be unmasked at the weekend, joining Theledi, Nthati Moshesh and Celeste Ntuli.

While Conco was far away from winning the second season of the hit TV singing competition with celebrities under disguise, her biggest victory was that the detective panel, especially Mhlongo, failed to guess her identity right. 

"The first thing he said to me [after the unmasking] was, ‘I have 10 to 15-minute chats before we gym with this person – how did I miss you?’ He was shocked and I knew he was going to be surprised,” she told Sowetan on Monday morning.

Mhlongo had thrown Conco's name in the mix this season, but he thought she was the celebrity behind "Ice Cream" – who remains unmasked and still running in the competition.   

“I recall asking production if Somizi had guessed anything about me. When I was told that he did guess me but on the 'Ice Cream' mask, listening to the 'Ice Cream', I noted to myself 'Haai! Somizi needs to learn about me more',” she said

Mhlongo's fellow detectives on the show – J-Something, Skhumba Hlophe and Sithelo Shozi – also did not get it right, they thought it was either DBN Gogo, Dineo Langa, Mpoomy Ledwaba or Thando Thabethe.   

“It was a different experience. Being there, performing and even walking around the studio to being driven from my home with my identity hidden was such a nice experience. They [the production team] call me 'Star' when they are speaking on their intercoms – I had fun,”  she said.

“I remember when they [ Masked Singer production] delivered my mask and I was in America. I told the driver to leave it at security and make sure it's packed well. When I got home, the package was written 'Star' and I had to pretend as though everything was fine.

“I only told my sister that it was a masked thing, and I didn't tell her what’s my mask. She doesn’t follow the show closely, so I was safe. The Masked Singer aired on our flight back to Joburg from Cape Town with my son, and everyone was like, what a surprise. Nobody saw it coming.”   

How did she ended up choosing "Star" as her costume? “My name is Nonkanyiso, which means light. Initially, I thought the costume design should be a candle, but the two ladies that designed my costume chose the star, and it just made sense,” she said. 

“Khaya Mthethwa [musical director on the show] suggested I sing Ngilimele by MaWhoo because it matched with my style of singing. It made sense even when I sang it that it was a good choice.

“As a personality in the public business, it's quite important that now and then you challenge yourself. I knew from the recordings, choosing the song, listening to myself sing ... I was like ‘Oh lo lo, girl. But let us do and just have fun'.”