Gugu Gumede says weight loss has drastically changed her life.
Image: Instagram
Former “Uzalo” actress, Gugu Gumede, recently shared that she has no regrets after embarking on her weight loss journey because that helped her land roles that now match her age.
Gumede, who underwent bariatric weight-loss surgery back in January 2024, shared a video on Instagram saying that she is now cast for roles that are age-appropriate after years of portraying old characters.
Gumede said that when she started portraying the role of prophetess Mamlambo on “Uzalo”, she was actually 24 years old.
“I’ve been in this acting industry since I was 23 years old, and when I was 24, I got a role that was the biggest role of my career.
“I played that role for so long and so well that people never believed my age. They never believed when they saw me, and they never believed when they heard,” she said.
Throughout her acting career, she continued playing older roles until she decided to go under the knife and get surgery to help with her weight loss.
“That was until I made the decision to change my life and get a gastric sleeve,” she said.
The 34-year-old said that since losing weight, she now gets cast for roles that match her real-life age, and the weight loss has even helped improve her physical health overall because she can actually do things on set that she couldn't do since she was overweight.
“I am now able to be a better actor because I can do things physically that I couldn’t do before. I’ve got the confidence that I didn’t have before,” she added.
Gumede further said that her weight loss even helped her get what she considers one of the most important roles of her acting career.
“Currently, I’ve got one of the biggest roles of my career coming out very, very soon,” she said.
Gumede will star in the upcoming Netflix drama, “The Polygamist”, which is a 22-episode series adaptation about a wealthy businessman whose empire begins to unravel as his wife, secret second wife, mistress and girlfriend fight for his life and wealth.
The series boasts a star-studded cast led by Gumede as Joyce Gomora and Sdumo Mtshali as Jonasi Gomora.
They are accompanied by an impressive ensemble including Kenneth Nkosi, Sthandiwe Kgoroge, Noluthando Shabalala, Celeste Ntuli, Kwanele Mthethwa, Luyanda Zwane, Lwazie Keith Tshebesha and Wonder Ndlovu.