Meet The Breakfast Stack's Dads!
Father's Day has got The Breakfast Stack thinking. Thinking about the growing years and their dads, who during those crucial years served as teachers, role models and disciplinarians.
Darren, Samson and Natarah take a trip down memory lane to share some of their special family moments, as world celebrates dads this weekend.
Darren is a doting dad himself. You may have heard him mention his beautiful daughter on-air a few times. So we asked him how being a dad has changed his life.
Darren: It totally '180s' your life because prior to becoming a dad all my decision-making processes were filtered through, "What's in this for me." Now every decision I make centers around how will this impact my daughter, her life and her future. There's a kind of love you have for a first girlfriend, your siblings and your parents but nothing compares to the unconditional love you have for your child.
How would you describe your dad in five words?
Darren: Funny, 'serial-marrier,' serial-breeder, very opinionated (my dad has never said, "you're right") and knowledgeable.
Samson: Talkative, serious, kind, intelligent and funny.
Natarah: Loving, generous, direct, wise and forgiving.
Think back to your childhood when you weren't on your best behaviour. What did you dad do to sort you out?
Darren: I was never naughty.
Samson: I got a hiding all the time. I was very naughty. One time I had a fight my brother and pushed him up against the window and the glass cut his back. That day, my dad decided to apply the supreme justice. To say I'd been beaten like that in my life after that moment - would be a lie. My dad's the CEO of Oduntan enterprises. Growing up was a little scary. He instructed my brother and sister and I not to use his computer. We would, just to play games. When he came home, he didn't say a word. He would walk over to his desk and put his hand behind the computer screen to feel if it was warm. If it was, we were done for.
Natarah: We had a double-storey house growing up. I was being a brat and threw my mom's prized pot plant out of the window from upstairs. Let's just say I got the punishment I deserved. It was the attack of the belt.
3-year-old Samson (second from the right) and his family
What has he taught you to value?
Samson: Education. My dad was big on that. He always taught me to value education. It's sad because I didn't care that much about it when I was a kid. Now I realise how it important it is.
Natarah: He taught me to value life, not just my own. I suppose that's why my name means 'sacrifice.'
What are some of the similarities you share?
Darren: I have to admit that my dad and I have baby soft skin. We both share an extensive lexicon of words and are funny. People can't choose who to have MC their functions, my dad or me. He's an absolute gentlemen. He's good with the ladies, I got that from him.
Samson: We're both tall.
Natarah: I have his feet. I also have a receding hairline like him and the signature Nadesan lips. Dark upper, pink lower.
Samson on graduation day in 2009
What do you do well together?
Darren's dad, Colin says, "We have a really good rapport. We are on the same wavelength so can joke together and anticipate what the other is going to say!"
Samson: We love watching boxing together. His favourite boxer is Mike Tyson.
Natarah: We sing together. He has an amazing voice!
When was your dad most proud of you?
Darren's dad says, "There are many. When I watched his adverts on TV and when he received a SAFTA award for Best Ensemble in a Comedy. The best though was when Darren emceed the Caxton Awards in Joburg in March last year." Colin says, "That was brilliant! That will always be a moment I will be proud of."
Samson: When he heard me on the campus radio for the first time in 2009. He was visiting me at res and he heard me on the radio. He said, "I heard your show on the radio, it was good. My dad never uses superlatives but you can see that he's proud cos he breaks into a silly smile.
Natarah: I think it was when I graduated from varsity. He stills smiles when people ask him, "Are you Natarah Nadesan's dad?" He was also beaming on my wedding day last year when he walked me down the aisle.
Natarah and her dad on her wedding day in 2012
What is the best advice your dad's given you?
Samson: Prevention's better than cure.
Natarah: Be yourself and don't let anyone or anything change who you are in Jesus Christ.
What music does he like?
Darren: His tastes are very varied but if I had to pick only one, it would be traditional jazz.
Samson: He loves almost anything from the eighties.
Natarah: Gospel praise and worship and adult contemporary.
What's his favourite dish?
Darren: Prawns, just grilled. No sauce to take away that delicate flavour. In fact, he loves any seafood!
Samson: He's not fussy. He likes everything.
Natarah: He's into healthy eating so he really savours those moments when my mum prepares roast lamb and potatoes and a fresh garden salad.