ECR Breakfast show comes to Ballito

His voice booms across the province every morning and for three precious hours, Ballito got to hog him.

Comedian and radio jock Darren Maule brought his East Coast Radio Breakfast show to the SMD Showroom in Ballito last week for a morning of fun, wit and of course – laughter.

The breakfast show team, including news anchor Natarah Nadesan, social media guru Tanya Fourie and producer Gabriel Sithole have been traipsing around KZN on their tour, which kicked off in Switzerland last month.

SMD's Shaun Morris Dumminy got the show off to an explosive start, surprising the entire breakfast team with brand new cars.

Darren got a gleaming Land Rover, Natarah a Freelander 2, Sithole a sexy Jaguar and Fourie a Ford Ecosport. Sports anchor Mak Dlamini stopped by to pick up his Ford Ranger while Michael Zuma received a Ford Ranger double cab and 'Gorgeous' George Thorne, a Ford Kuga.

The team also interviewed the beautiful Miss Ballito finalists. The Courier sat down with Darren while he enjoyed his breakfast, overlooking the rolling sugarcane hills along the N2.

“We have been on tour for three weeks and I must say it has been a wild ride. I mean, it would be alright for a rockstar but taking our entire operation on the road, everyone on a tour bus, was something else. I take my hat off to anyone who does it regularly.”

Darren said he has fallen in love with KZN all over again, having seen the green hills of the Midlands to the icy snow of the Drakensberg.

“It is all here. KZN is steeped in such rich history and I wish we would all get off our butts and go and see it. What is amazing about East Coast is our diversity, and we got to see it first hand on tour. Meeting our listeners was also great; we got to see feel that warmth KZN is known for.”

Chatting about the wildly popular breakfast show Darren, who lived in Ballito for a while, said a common misconception is that the team only works three hours a day.

“We have to prepare for the next day's show, so we are busy for an average of 10 hours a day. But, I think the reason we work so well is because we have found a genuine dynamic that translates into magic on air. And it all depends on Natarah, really. Since I am her on-air husband I have made her sign a contract preventing her from getting pregnant because that would wreck the show,” he chuckled. Catch Darren and his troupe on East Coast Radio 94.5FM between 6am and 9am on weekdays.