owever, his second flight then made an unscheduled stop in Birmingham, Alabamaafter he suffered a second seizure while on board. A spokesperson for the airport confirmed that a private jet flying from Florida to Memphis had made an unscheduled landing at Birmingham, but was unable to provide any more information.
Meanwhile, University of Memphis basketball coach Josh Pastner told the audience at the event Ross had been scheduled to play: "On his way to Memphis, he had to make another emergency landing in Birmingham. He got really sick again, and they had to rush him to the emergency room."
According to TMZ, Ross is currently still in hospital receiving treatment but is said to be in a stable condition.
However, the show's producers have managed to conceal news of the resignation of yet another big name - Nat Ramabulana. Insiders say the actor, who plays the colourful Khumo Lebone - the devoted husband of Diksie (Lele Ledwaba) - quit, like Tony Kgoroge, over contractual disagreements.
The Wild's star cast includes Faye Peters, Tumisho Masha, Shona and Connie Ferguson and Wandile Molebatsi, who are believed to receive bumped-up salaries because the show does not pay them royalties. During the show's launch on April 3, Kgoroge said he was expected to sign documents that "stated that they will basically have my copyright for a lifetime". When he refused, he was fired.
Ramabulana, who appeared in Blood Diamond, starring Leonardo di Caprio, and SABC1 drama Home Affairs, confirmed his departure yesterday, saying: "It's true. I'm not comfortable talking about that right now. It's not my place. I have my reasons and I just want to keep them to myself - you can speak to my agent."
While the soapie enjoyed its highest audience average in July - with 123777 viewers aged 15 and over - the numbers have been on the slide. But while his resignation isn't catastrophic for the show, it is worrying as viewership figures plummet. The show lost an average of 19377 viewers in August, and a further 26726 in September. By the beginning of this month, an average of 70084 people tuned in to the 6pm soapie. The show's producers have lured local stars including veteran actor Joe Mafela, singer and Idols star Sindi Nene and local Bollywood actress Tarina Patel to help boost its ratings and popularity. But without viewers, the show loses advertisers and the money they bring.
The Times understands that guest actors walk away with "between R20000 and R30000 max" per episode. The channel, however, denies that this is the reason behind the ploy. The Wild's publicist Burgert Muller said: "There is no specific strategy. We were very fortunate that Tarina and Sindi were available." TV presenter Minnie Dlamini, who co-hosts SABC1's music show Live, was added to the cast as Zintle Lebone. Former Miss Teen SA Phuthi Khomo and TV host Nimrod Nkosi are also due to appear soon. Said an insider, who spoke on condition of anonymity: "They're hoping that bringing all these artists will bring more viewers - just like they hoped with Connie [Ferguson] who came from Generations."
"From what I've seen of the show, I thought it might not be soapie enough. I thought it would be good as a drama series, just in terms of its style," she said. TV critic Tashi Tagg said there were "a few possible reasons" for the show's performance, one of which was that a 6pm broadcast time was "pretty early", especially since it was not targeted at youth like e.tv's Rhythm City. Muller said Ramabulana's schedule was to blame for his departure, as he was starring in Johannesburg's Market Theatre production of The Girl in the Yellow Dress. s clashed with the shooting for the soapie, which is filmed on location instead of on studio sets like other soapies in the country.
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