“It is an honour to be an understudy to such a prolific, talented artist…”

Actress Thuli Thabethe has been announced to be replacing the late Busi Lurayi on etv’s Scandal.

She will be portraying the character of Me’Shell – which will premier in September.

Busi Lurayi’s untimely death saw her character urgently needing a re-cast and who better than the talented Thuli to fill her shoes.

It’s not the first time the talented thespians had to understudy one another. In fact, it was the late Busi Lurayi who took over Thuli Thabethe’s role of Phumzile on SABC 1’s sitcom, City Se’la back in 2009.

E.tv took to Instagram to announce that the show had to recast actress Thuli Thabethe to complete the rest of the scenes.

“We would like to confirm that the late Busi Lurayi had joined Scandal as the character of Me’Shell who will be coming to our screens from the 2nd of September.

“Busi tragically passed on July 10 and therefore wasn’t able to complete shooting the story of Me’Shell who will feature as a long-time friend of Layla Mckenzie.

“To complete her final act, her close friend and fellow actor, Thuli Thabethe, stepped in to take over Me’Shell’s remaining scenes which will be seen later in September,” The caption read.

Producers at Scandal said Busi’s sudden passing shook them to the core. They were in awe over Busi’s portrayal of the cougar wife role and said she was a pleasure to work with.

“At e.tv Scandal we were shocked and saddened by the untimely passing of Busisiwe Lurayi. Busi was midstream in the portrayal of Me’shell the cougar housewife who pays her fitness trainer, CJ, for additional training on the side. She embraced the role, was doing an amazing job, and extremely professional to work with. We were keen to present her final work to audiences of Scandal. We are grateful to the Lurayi family for supporting our request,” said Sanele Zulu in a statement.

In the statement, Thuli Thabethe said she is honoured to be taking over the role of Me’Shell from her late friend.

“It is also an honour to be an understudy to such a prolific, talented artist. Busi became the character, I always said, the rest of us would put in work and act but she would become the character. Stepping into the character of Me’Shell who had been played by Busi, I know that I would have big shoes to fill. I am thankful for the opportunity from Scandal and e.tv for trusting in my ability to continue with the work she started. I am honoured and blessed,” she said.

We are looking forward to watch as we witness Busi Lurayi’s final act this September on #etvscandal every weekday at 7.30pm. #TheFinalAct #RIPBusiLurayi

By Sinenzolo Mondi – Nduku