My Favourite Interviews - Tandile Mandela Artwork

"Tales from a very minor celebrity"

Is it possible for someone with very little self confidence and who is also very shy to go on to become a radio and TV presenter?…Hosting their own live radio show, interviewing royals, Oscar winning actors and musical superstars as well as hosting shows in front of 20,000 people and even moving to another country to start a new career….Well I’m here to tell you that it is, because I did just that. My name is Simon Baldock and this podcast is called, “Tales from a very minor celebrity”….this is the story of how I overcame my insecurities and shyness and went on to have a 35 year career in broadcasting both in the UK and in Spain. You’ll hear some of my most memorable celebrity interviews and all the adventures I’ve had both in the UK and Spain and the stories behind them…like the time I delivered half a carcass of beef to Margaret Thatcher at 10 Downing Street! “Tales from a very minor celebrity”, a weekly podcast from me Simon Baldock.

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"Tales from a very minor celebrity"

My Favourite Interviews - Tandile Mandela

October 20, 2022 • Simon Baldock / Tandile Mandela • Season 2 • Episode 3

Hi everyone, and welcome to episode three of this new season of Tales From A Very Minor Celebrity, a delve into my audio archive and a look back at some of my very favourite interviews from my career in radio and TV…. I hope you will like them as much as I did recording them.

This week you’ll hear an interview I did with a young lady called Tandile. She was performing with a South African group of musicians called the Michael House Big Band, 22 musicians travelling from the KwaZulu-Natal area of South Africa as a part of a 15-date tour of England and Wales back in 2007.

A fairly interesting story but it got a lot more interesting when I discovered that Tandile’s surname was Mandela, yes a granddaughter of Nelson Mandela

She was to be the special guest with the Michael House Big band and as you’ll hear a very accomplished musician and singer

Tandile was 29 at the time of this interview. She was studying for a Masters degree in music and delighted crowds with her performance on the alto saxophone and keyboards, as well as playing several native African instruments too.

The money raised from the concerts went to help feed, clothe and educate Aids orphans in South Africa.

I’ll play you the interview with Tandile first and then you’ll hear two songs that she played for me exclusively using traditional African instruments.

People on this episode

Simon Baldock

Host