Actress Pebetsi Nolo Matlaila revealed some of the hardships she had faced while growing up. Picture: Instagram
Actress Pebetse Nolo Matlaila recently appeared on a podcast and opened up about her life, from enduring abuse in her childhood, through to living abroad in New York for four years, and her divorce.
Matlaila gained popularity from her role on SABC 1's “Skeem Saam” as Mokgadi Matloga-Maputla, a journalist who later became Leeto Maputla’s wife.
The radio presenter, author and actress opened up on Varied Views with host, Tele Alice Ledwaba, about the difficulties of transitioning from a teenage to a young adult when she went abroad at the age of 19.
“I took the opportunity to live abroad and I went there when I was 19. And from 19 to 23 you are transitioning from a teenager to a young adult.
“So much happens to you psychologically, physically, mentally and socially. You are defining yourself as a person. It was an awkward time to be there because I did not have a mom to guide and I was literally on my own, I had to define myself,” Matlaila said.
Ledwaba asked her what happened to her life in America and how she manoeuvred her way through.
“I felt so lost in America, I was literally a lost soul in a foreign, unfamiliar land. But what helped me the most was my best friend, Thelma. We would just link up when we were homesick, and we made each other feel like home,” Matlaila said.
The 37-year-old mother also shared the impact that some of her childhood experiences had in her life.
She said the challenges she faced at home had a huge impact on her life as she felt like she never did good enough in school, she was never beautiful enough and she used academics as a way to prove herself.
Matlaila also opened up about how a close relative’s behaviour had impacted her life in all areas.
“From the outside we looked like an average middle class family living in the suburbs, and life is kind of good. But if you come in behind those walls at night you would realise that there was something that my siblings and I were tolerating,” she said.
Matlaila said her close relative, who was battling with alcoholism, affected her since she did not want her friends to come over and visit because she was fearful of how he would behave in front of them.
She further disclosed that men close to her had similar characteristics as her relative, which scared her.
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