Lebogang Tlokana, aka The Funny Chef, starred in The River as Dora.
Biography
Lebogang Tlokana (born 22 March 1990), fondly known as The Funny Chef, is a South African chef, actress, comedienne, social media sensation, host, and entrepreneur.
The Celebrity chef is among the most engaging chefs in South Africa. She returned as the host in season two of SABC 1’s weekly cooking reality show, Plate It Up.
Early Life
| Lebogang Tlokana | |
|---|---|
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| Personal Information | |
| Full Name: | Lebogang Tlokana |
| Other names: | The Funny Chef |
| Born: | 22 March 1990 (age 33 years old) |
| Place of Birth: | Pretoria |
| Nationality: | South African |
| Occupation: | Chef, actress, comedienne, social media sensation, host, entrepreneur |
| Years Active: | 2010-date |
| Book: | The Funny Chef’s Delicious Dishes |
The Funny Chef was born Lebogang Tlokana on 22 March 1990 in Pretoria. Growing up, she was a troublemaker. Many bullied her as she was the only black female in an Afrikaans school.
Lebogang forged her academic report card in high school. She would cancel parent meetings through prank calls pretending to be a white woman.
Education
Lebogang Tlokana attended an Afrikaans school. As the only girl of color in the school, she was a victim of bullying. She later enrolled at an English school for her high school education.
The chef studied marketing in school. She told her parents she wanted to attend a culinary school to learn and qualify as a chef.
Career
Tlokana started to do comedy skits in 2010. She gained prominence after sharing the post imitating what a Pretoria girl would do if she found R14-million in her account.
The Funny Chef returned to host the second season of SABC’s weekly cooking reality show, Plate It Up. She posts delicious dishes like sour porridge and chicken feet or chicken intestine. Many love her food requesting the recipes.
Lebogang experienced difficulty looking for a job in her area of specialization. She had to blame her big body size for the setback. Eventually, she developed a passion for cooking after watching several food channels on TV.
Tlokana got jobs in hotels and Korean restaurants. She was the head chef at Thulani Game Lodge and Amp, Eco Estate in Thabazimbi. Though her métier is cooking, she is funny and makes her friends and family laugh.
In 2010, she began to post comedy videos on social media. Later, she appeared in the television series The River as Dora Phakathi. She hosted Dstv Mzansi Viewer’s Choice awards, SABC 1’s Plate It Up, and Our Perfect Wedding.
Tlokana also appeared in The Big Bozza Cookoff on Honey TV and in David Kau’s film, Leeto la Taxi. She hosts Plate It Up, which gets people who don’t usually cook behind the stove to work on their wrist motion.
Book
Experience and passion have become her driving force not only as a chef but as an author. She wrote the cookbook The Funny Chef’s Delicious Dishes. The work becomes her first publication and teaches people how to cook different cuisines.
The book serves as a guide for foods that might seem complicated to people.
Personal Life
Though she has not revealed who her husband is, she says her biggest fear is that 12 years into their marriage, her Partner will say let them cut Cheese out of their diet she will have to leave with the kids in the middle of the night. She has a sister called Nnoni. Lebogang Tlokana has a tattoo drawn on her left arm.
Social Profile
Tlokana posts cooking content on social media platforms. She shares a more serious side as a chef on Instagram, and if they want a bit of comedy, TikTok is where she does.
At first, she wanted to leave out my funny side and show off her cooking skills. However, the lockdown made her discover that sharing hilarious content on TikTok grew her following on social media.