COVER: Juicy Jay’s rise to stardom is laced with focus and fun
When Juicy Jay got evicted from the Big Brother Titan house in just 49 days of gracing the small screens, to others – his dreams might have ended there but for the 24-year-old, it had only just begun.
“I didn’t see it (eviction) coming. I truly believed that we were a strong pair,” he said cheerfully.
But with a clearer dream of pursuing a spot within the entertainment industry, the semi-pro rugby player has set his plans in motion.
Speaking to the bubbly gentleman, who attributes his Christian faith to having grounded him most of his life, I am quickly exposed to a layered individual.
Generally, he is a funny guy who can be easily dubbed as the life of the party, but as you peel away at the jokes, the sparkling smile and the great physique, you quickly learn of a story so deep that it beckons him in no other direction but to be great, with rugby at the center of his salvation.
“Rugby saved my life,” he shared. “It became an escape from the many things I was dealing with as a young child. I was exposed to many traumatic experiences while growing up, and rugby allowed me to create a world for myself. This world was so peaceful and happy that I could ignore whatever else that was happening outside of it.
“A place where I found refuge, relating with teammates which made me feel accepted, a place that reminded me to speak to God and reignited my relationship with Christ. It is within the confines of this world that I got to shape the man that I am today, and through challenges and all, I found my voice and I found my identity,” he said.
These challenges, deep enough to crush any growing young boy, ranged from his own parent’s relationship which was marred by arguments that happened right before his eyes to a lack of support and presence from his folks, that can make any child feel alone. He felt unseen and his value not acknowledged.
But it was rugby that helped restore his value and honour, in its own special way. It restored his own self worth.
“So when someone asks me why I am so confident, God and rugby immediately come to mind. It took a lot for me to overcome so much to find myself in this happy, positive state. I love it here,” he said laughing.
Believing he can do anything, and with a battered knee, Big Brother Titans was next on the cards. But before entering the competition show, Siyamthanda Jwacu knew nothing about it. LOL
“Well, I knew there was a show called Big Brother but I never watched it religiously. All I knew was that it’s a game show and one person stands a chance to win a cash prize, but outside of that, I was blank. So while playing for the Varsity Cup tournament last year, I tore my Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) and had to get surgery done,” he said.
That meant being temporarily impaired right at the brink of him birthing a solid career off rugby, losing out on great opportunities. But his shining personality, and his many other dreams, nudged him to see what else was out there for him.
“Going onto Big Brother was a stepping stone for exposure to the media space, and also I wanted the money obviously. Sifuna imali,” he said laughing.
“But I had no strategy up my sleeves because I thought being myself is entertaining enough, something I’ve heard all my life.
“What became challenging for me in the house was not being able to move around a lot and being stuck in a small space. Even when you need some me-time, you wouldn’t have enough of it because we were all in each other’s spaces,” said the Sport Management graduate.
With his love of sports and presenting, Juicy Jay hopes to merge the two as sports presenter, “I just hope for a lot of TV gigs, with rugby still very much on the cards for me because I believe I still have a lot to offer there.”
And for those who are as curious as I am about the name Juicy Jay, he explains: “It came from my rugby friends at training. Every time after our session, you’d find them chanting ‘juice’ because of my juicy legs. I put that name down for the Varsity 2020/2021 games and one of the commentators went wild for my slick no look pass. I just heard him say ‘What a great pass from Juicy Jay’ and it literally stuck,” he said.
But beyond the frills and thrills of the life he is chasing, Juicy Jay hopes his story cements the drive to pursuing one’s dream regardless.
“I know we’ve heard this a lot, and it has become a little cliched, but it really doesn’t matter if you don’t know how you are going to achieve something. Just start and stay on faith street. Because God wants us to stay on faith street, to keep on working on the dream, remain patient and relentless as difficult as those two disciplines are. Stay there. Eventually when your time to reap comes, you will harvest plenty,” he said.
