Lorna Maseko (born 3 July 1983), is a South African

chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a kitche ...

, media personality and former ballet dancer.

Early life and education

Maseko was born and raised in the

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

township of

Alexandra Alexandra () is the feminine form of the given name Alexander (, ). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; GEN , ; meaning 'man'). Thus it may be roughly translated as "defender of man" or "prot ...

. Her mother was a receptionist and her father was a taxi driver. She has an older brother and two younger sisters. Maseko took up ballet at the age of nine under the tuition of Martin Schonberg and qualified in the

Cecchetti method The Cecchetti method is variously defined as a style of ballet and as a ballet training method devised by the Italian ballet master Enrico Cecchetti (1850–1928). The training method seeks to develop essential skills in dancers as well as streng ...

. She pursued a Bachelor of Communications at the

University of South Africa The University of South Africa (UNISA), known colloquially as Unisa, is the largest university system in South Africa by enrollment. It attracts a third of all higher education students in South Africa. Through various colleges and affiliates, U ...

and later completed a year-long culinary course.

Career

Dance was Maseko's primary profession until around the age of 25. She toured as young as 16 and competed in the

Prix de Lausanne The Prix de Lausanne is an international dance competition held annually in Lausanne, Switzerland. The competition is for young dancers seeking to pursue a professional career in classical ballet, and many former prize winners of the competition a ...

. In 2005, she was crowned the premiere black ballerina in South Africa. In 2007, she was cast as Kitri in the

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

production of '' Don Quixote''. 18 months after leaving the

South African Ballet Theatre South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...

, she returned to the stage in 2009 to star in the titular role of ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the Carmen (novella), novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first perfo ...

''. Maseko began working in television, presenting and producing ''Afro Showbiz News'' and ''The Weekender'' for SABC. She was a finalist on the 2006 season of '' Top Billing'', which she returned to present in 2010. She was named November Woman In Action by ''True Love Magazine'' in 2007. She was a judge on the South African version of '' So You Think You Can Dance'' in 2013, a contestant on the

e.tv e.tv (commonly referred to on-air as e) is the first and only privately owned free-to-air television station in South Africa. It is the fifth terrestrial television channel in the country, following three channels that are operated by the sta ...

series ''I Love South Africa'' in 2014, and appeared in season 2 of the music talk show ''Zaziwa''. In 2015, Maseko competed in the Celebrity edition of ''

MasterChef South Africa ''MasterChef South Africa'' is the South African version of the television cooking game show franchise ''MasterChef''. It was originally filmed on the Nederburg Wine Estate in Paarl, Western Cape and judged by Pete Goffe-Wood, Benny Masekwameng ...

'' and discovered her passion for cooking in the process. She hosted the 2016 cooking reality series '' Top Chef SA'' and landed her own series ''The Hostess with Lorna Maseko'' on

SABC3 SABC 3 (stylised as S3) is a South African free-to-air public television network owned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). It carries programming in English and, few in other South African languages. It has a number of its own re ...

the following year. Maseko opened The Bread Basket in Morningside Shopping Centre, although she no longer owns it. In 2018, she began posting videos on her YouTube channel Lorna With A Pinch Of Salt. Maseko took her cooking to the international stage in 2019, making the cover of '' Women's Health''. She hosted the World Restaurant Awards in February in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and became the guest speaker at TEDxKedgeBS at KEDGE Business School's

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

campus. She then went to

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

in April to contribute to EAT Forum, a non-profit organization combatting world hunger. She participated in

Taste of London Taste Festivals is a company which runs a series of food festivals around the world. As of 2012, these have taken place in fifteen cities. The events typically have the prefix "Taste of", although the company also runs The World Restaurant Awards. T ...

and Taste of Dubai. Maseko signed a book deal with NB Publishers and published her first cookbook ''Celebrate with Lorna Maseko'' in September 2019. It won best celebrity chef cookbook and best international cookbook at the 2020 Gourmand Awards. She was made an ambassador for the beauty brand Justine.

Personal life

Maseko married Gcina "GC" Lukhele, a sales executive, in December 2010 at the Memoire in

Muldersdrift Muldersdrift, in the Gauteng Province of South Africa, is a picturesque rural area situated 27 km north-west of the CBD of Johannesburg, between Johannesburg and the Magaliesberg mountain range. The area falls under the West Rand District Mu ...

. They divorced in 2016. In 2020, it was confirmed Maseko is in a relationship with

EFF EFF or eff may refer to: Politics * Economic Freedom Fighters, a South African communist political party * Economic Freedom Fund, an American political organization * Election Fighting Fund, a British suffragist organization supporting the ear ...

politician

Floyd Shivambu Nyiko Floyd Shivambu (born 1 January 1983) is a South African politician serving as a member of parliament for the Economic Freedom Fighters. He was born in Malamulele, Limpopo. He is the Deputy President and lieutenant commander-in-chief of th ...

; they have a daughter.

Bibliography

* ''Celebrate with Lorna Maseko'' (2019)

References

External links

Lorna Maseko
on TVSA {{DEFAULTSORT:Maseko, Lorna Living people 1983 births Food and cooking YouTubers People from Alexandra, Gauteng South African ballerinas South African chefs South African cookbook writers South African television personalities South African YouTubers Television chefs University of South Africa alumni