Liezel van der Westhuizen is a South African virtual mc, virtual speaker, personal brand coach, motivational speaker, voice-over artist, actress, radio and television personality.
Quick Facts:
| Birth / Full Name: | Liezel van der Westhuizen |
| Date of Birth: | 12 July 1978 |
| Age: | 45 years |
| Nationality: | South African |
| Alma mater: | University of Pretoria |
| Spouse: | Mike Fannin |
Liezel hosted Idols SA seasons, 5 and 6 in the years 2009 and 2010 respectively. She was a replacement for previous host Colin Moss, Liezel hosted season 5 alone and then co-hosted season 6 with ProVerb.
Career
Van der Westhuizen is renown for presenting continuity on SABC3, she officially became a face of the channel on Monday 30 July 2007 when SABC3 re-launched a new brand image.
Prior to joining SABC3, she worked for a publicity company. She has a Master Degree in Communication from the University of Pretoria and she has been a member of Toastmasters International since 2000. She received her Advanced Toastmaster Bronze certificate in 2005.
Liezel kicked off her public speaking and Emcee career over two decades ago and, to date, has hosted more than 500 events across South Africa and internationally. She has won bronze and silver awards as a member of the Toastmaster’s Society, and is often invited to give motivational talks, covering topics such as: “Beat the Bully”, “Empowering Women”, “Finding Your Inner Strength” and “Personal Brand Personified”.
In December 2008, M-Net announced her as the new host of Idols SA season 5, replacing previous host Colin Moss who stepped down from his role so that he could pursue his film career. She beat out former Season 1 host Sami Sabiti, Top Billing presenter Janez Vermeiren and YFM jock and TV presenter Pabi Moloi to win the presenting job.
She began hosting Idols SA season 5 on Sunday 1 February 2009, she then went on to co-host season 6 with ProVerb but departed the show midway through the Season to take a job co-hosting the SABC3 breakfast show Expresso, in October 2010. During her time on Idols SA, she was at the same time a presenter on SABC3’s daily breakfast show, Expresso.
She has also presented TV shows for channels SABC3, SuperSport, SABC Sport, MNET, DSTV and SABC 2, and lists her career highlights as Idols, Expresso, The Lunchbox and Soundcheck.
In December 2009 she began co-hosting (with Bongani Nxumalo) the M-Net live music request show Soundcheck Live.
Personal Life
Liezel is married to Mike Fannin who proposed in January 2019 while they were on vacation in northern Mozambique.
