Making her debut on The Real Housewives of Durban S3, Maria Valaskatzis caught the attention of many viewers with her charm, fabulousness and slick nature.
In the reunion episode of Season 3 we also saw an emotional Maria walk off set after expressing her disappointment in how her friendships suddenly fell through. Which begs the question, why return for a fourth season?
"I'm someone that hates leaving things unfinished, I like answers. For me to have closure in anything in my life I need to have answers - whether I get it or not is neither here nor there, as long as I try. This season for me is all about getting the answers for my healing and trying to understand what went wrong. But in all, I'm really looking forward to this season, this season could be great! I mean, would I have decided to come if I was afraid? It would be a stupid reason not to because one of my biggest things in life is to get over fear. And so here we are, it is what it is and we will see where the season goes. Maybe I'll be great, maybe I will heal, maybe I will carry more trauma, maybe I will cause drama, who knows!? But I'm here."
Many of the new and returning cast members do speak fondly of their journey towards healing, which is something Maria is also going through.
"I'm very happy with my healing process. However, I don't believe that there is complete healing - I think there is still a lot of communication and discourse between the ladies and myself that needs to happen. But the first step has been taken, and that is the most important part.”
And like an experienced Real Housewives cast member, Maria has a message for the new cast: "My message would be to practise discernment. Form your own opinion and don't carry someone else's battle because things can get tricky if you do so. I'd also advise them to be strong and to stand their ground because we're a tough crowd," says Maria.
And if you're wondering if she and Ruan Scheepers (friend in Season 3) have buried the hatchet, well, maybe.
"Ruan and I are in a better place. I don't think our friendship will ever be the way it was but we're cordial with each other and I'll leave it at that," says Maria.
In Season 4, Maria will also lift the veil on her marriage and motherhood as she introduces her son (Alex) into her professional world as an entrepreneur. But she'd like viewers to know that in this season, she is going to be "spicy as hell!"
"I will not take nonsense from anyone and if I'm going to talk about you, I'm also going to tell you what I said straight to your face, so I ain't afraid to communicate."
Catch Maria Valaskatzis on The Real Housewives of Durban Season 4 streaming every Wednesday on Showmax.
The Real Housewives franchise is distributed internationally by NBC Universal Formats, which is part of Universal International Studios, a division of Universal Studio Group. Showmax is also home to The Real Housewives of Lagos, Abuja and Nairobi.
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