Lorna Maseko-Lukhele is a South African ballet dancer, choreographer, MC and television presenter. She is best known as a presenter on SABC3’s lifestyle magazine programme, Top Billing. She also hosts TopChef SA.

We catch up with this budding chef’s post-girls’ trip to Dubai and Abu Dhabi…

Lorna Maseko-Lukhele Celeb on Tour

I went to Dubai and Abu Dhabi on a girls’ holiday. It was my first time in Dubai, but second time in Abu Dhabi. Thinking about it, it was also my first all-girls trip.

I needed time away. 2015 was quite a hectic year with many great prospects, but I needed to take time off.

Television has always been something I wanted to do. While dancing, I never saw myself as just a dancer, but multidimensional and I wanted to explore most of the talents God gave me – TV being one of them, as well as entrepreneurship.

I never got to explore cooking that much because, as a dancer, you try hard to minimise how much you eat, while keeping healthy. I think being on MasterChef really fueled my love for cooking even more and, hence, exploring all these other food avenues. I didn’t quite enjoy going to cooking lessons, because I’m a practical person and learn best when I’m doing something.

I created an interactive cooking experience that was very hands-on for attendees and me. Cooking with Lorna and Friends was created to recapture and ignite an individual’s passion for cooking. We wanted to increase people’s knowledge of food, their love for it and inspire them to want to explore in their own  kitchens. The experience is designed to build one’s confidence and teach our audience that good home cooking and entertaining can be a fun, relaxing past-time that anyone, regardless of experience, can enjoy.

My favourite thing about travelling is learning about new cultures, trying some of the world-famous restaurants, but also enjoying authentic, local cuisine.

After returning from Dubai, I was really amazed at what ‘a vision’ can do. Dubai is so developed, yet it is still such a young country. I left there feeling so inspired, knowing that all things are possible through vision and hard work.

Sleeping in my bed and not living out of a bag was what I missed most about my usual routine at home, while travelling.

The best moment of the entire trip was that I just love new experiences and trying different things. I enjoy learning and coming home feeling refreshed, motivated and inspired.

Click here to read more about South Africa’s very own Top Chef series.