Reality TV star Camille “Millie” Terblanche has left South Africans cringing over her viral comments – and subsequent apology – in which she claimed to be the “prettiest girl in Guyana.”
The Love Island SA contestant has documented her travels to the South American country in a TikTok account called “Guyana Living.”
In 2021, Millie made headlines after making a “rape joke” on the dating show.
MILLIE TERBLANCHE ‘PRETTIEST GIRL IN GUYANA’
In recent weeks, Millie Terblanche – a social media influencer and photography and design graduate from Cape Town – has been trending on TikTok after a clip of her claiming to be the “prettiest girl in Guyana” went viral.
Millie has been visiting the South American country, where she has documented her experience on her account called Guyuna Living.
She said in a video that blew up: “My favourite thing about Guyana is that I’m the prettiest girl here. I’m not even tooting my horn when I say that. It is a literal fact”.
The blonde went on to claim that the country has “oil money” and encouraged others to make use of its natural resources. She also casually mentioned that the country was the location of the Jonestown massacre – a horror suicide pact conducted by cult leader Jim Jones – that took place in 1978.
However, whether intentional or joking, Millie Terblanche’s comments about her appearance in comparison to other Guyanese women had social media users enraged.
Many accused her of being conceited and arrogant and displaying little knowledge about the country she had temporarily called home.
APOLOGY AND DEPORTATION?
In the days that followed her viral video, Millie Terblanche made all of her social media accounts inactive.
She did, however, issue an apology for her comments to both Guyanese women and her interpretation of the country.
In a clip, Millie said, “I am not here to colonise. I’m not here to take anyone’s job.”
Many South Africans, however, were quick to disassociate themselves from her.
@faybyy_: “Millie really be embarrassing us South Africans. We don’t want her back, we disown her. She is a representative of everything that is with SA and white Apartheid supremacy”.
@lebom: “We do not know her”
@zinhlemense: “We can’t even defend ourselves anymore.”
According to social media commentator Bianca van Wyk, Millie Terblanche was allegedly shown the door by authorities following her TikTok controversy. In another viral clip, Millie is seen embarking on a plane from Guyana.”
OUTRAGE OVER ‘RAPE JOKE’
In 2021, Millie Terblanche appeared as a contestant on the first and only season of Love Island South Africa.
Her stint on the show was not without controversy, too.
Millie sparked outrage when she told fellow contestant Tania that should should “rape” her love interest, Ross, who had been “saving himself for marriage.”
Gender-based violence Keep The Energy said of the incident: “Joking about rape and sexual assault assists in normalising these offences. A rape joke is a far cry from an actual incident of sexual assault, but think of the rape jokes as the foundation of the pyramid of rape culture.
“If you take away the foundation — if you create a situation where rape jokes are unacceptable, instead of a situation where victims feel forced to bite their tongues and bear it — then everything else will be a little bit less likely to take root and flourish.”.
Many of our followers have raised concern about a rape joke made on a recent episode of @loveislandsa and we feel we should address it. We have tried to make contact with the Love Island SA team via Instagram before this post, but they have not responded and our comment is not visible on their posts by any other accounts.
To add some context to the clip, the woman on the right, named Millie (@millieterblanche), was talking to another islander named Tania. They spoke about Tania’s current relationship with islander Ross and how he would prefer to save himself for marriage. They laughed and Millie is seen to say “rape him” as a response. The episode now has been edited so that this clip is not included anymore, after twitter users called Millie and Love Island SA out for the rape joke and for including it in the episode.
This post does not intend to incite bullying and hate towards Millie or Love Island SA, but no matter if you’re male or female, rape jokes are not funny and they contribute to rape culture. Joking about rape and sexual assault assists in normalising these offences. A rape joke is a far cry from an actual incident of sexual assault, but think of the rape jokes as the foundation of the pyramid of rape culture. If you take away the foundation — if you create a situation where rape jokes are unacceptable, instead of a situation where victims feel forced to bite their tongues and bear it — then everything else will be a little bit less likely to take root and flourish.
We call on Love Island SA and Camille Terreblance to apologise for this.
#RapeIsRape #KeepTheEnergy #notogenderbasedviolencePosted by Keep The Energy on Tuesday 6 April 2021
SHOULD GUYANA ACCEPT MILLIE TERBLANCHE’S APOLOGY?
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