Heart104.9 FM’s reality radio show, Two Guys and A Wedding, culminated in a glamorous gay wedding at the V&A Waterfront when the grooms declared themselves soul mates, and tied the knot in front of a seven foot wedding cake and hundreds of onlookers.
“It has been a great campaign for Heart in that it has brought to life the true meaning of love and partnership, regardless of sexual orientation. It captured a great deal of interest from National media and more importantly the people of Cape Town that embraced it,” said station manager, Gavin Meiring.
The grooms, ‘Lekker Larry’ and ‘Hastige Hendrik’ had never seen each other before being unveiled at the wedding itself – in fact, in the moments before they said ‘I do’. They wore masks even during the proposal that took place at the Grand Daddy Hotel. Lekker Larry was the first groom chosen, and he had to select his soul mate from five possibles, each of whom were took polygraph tests and underwent extensive background checks before they took part in the show.
The eight-week wedding drama unfolded during Phat Joe’s breakfast show and held listeners in a thrall as Lekker Larry embarked on his search for true love.
“It’s hard to tell whether this sort of thing grows listenership but what we can say is that it certainly draws attention to a radio station that is prepared to take a few risks and be adventurous in its content delivery. There are not many radio stations in the country that would have taken this on and we are sure many more people would have sampled the station to be part of the drama playing itself out on air,” Meiring said.
“From the outset Heart FM sought two unite to people that loved each other and we believe that we achieved that. Anyone who was at the wedding and saw Lloyd and Shane together would understand that this was indeed true,” he added.
Lekker Larry (35) is, in reality, Lloyd Kandlin, while Hastige Hendrik’s real name is Shane Everts. Lloyd is an entertainer but also designs costumes for props and sets. Shane Everts (29) and works in marketing. He defines love as a serious business comprising of discussion, understanding, compassion and support.
The wedding, costing R1.8 million, was sponsored by the V&A Waterfront and Nautilus, the yacht on which the couple are spending their honeymoon,
How did all begin anyway? Said Meiring: “When a presenter like Phat Joe is determined to do something, it makes sense to support it. Joe was passionate about uniting two guys together and the radio station felt that this was something unique and constitutionally correct to highlight in our society. “
On 30 December 2006, South Africa became the fifth country in the world to join an elite group of progressive democracies that allow legal same-sex marriages. SA is also the first country in Africa and is currently one of the 22 countries out of 195 in the world to recognise same-sex marriage constitutionally.
