Idols winner Khaya Mthethwa on God, singing, his dad, Orlando Pirates... and Mario Balotelli

Champ: Khaya and me this morning

Khaya Mthethwa is South Africa’s shiniest new star. But a single sleepness night after winning the biggest reality show in the history of South African broadcasting there he was, an ordinary bloke with a beaming smile.

A Buccaneer. With a touch of Mario Balotelli thrown in.

Truth is, the man crowned winner of Idols is a thoroughly nice chap – and an ardent supporter of English Premier League Champions Manchester City, not to mention South Africa’s PSL treble champions Orlando Pirates.

I caught up with him in the cramped lobby outside my producer’s box at 702 in Sandton. There was the usual congratulatory hug then I asked the vital question: which football team do you support?

“It’s got to be Manchester City,” he grinned, “They’re the best team I’ve seen. Mario Balotelli? Oh yes!”

But locally? “Orlando Pirates… I’m a Buccaneer! I love my football, I play when I can, always loved it. I played at school. And Andile Jali should be in the Bafana Bafana squad!”

Khaya is not typical starry-eyed wannabe using reality television to hit the heights. He’s a God-fearing lad from Durban. Eager to please, modest, grateful. He started his morning at 702 with my Early Breakfast host Shaka Sisulu, referring to him as “Mr Sisulu” and replying to questions about media pressure by recalling: “I got some valuable advice from one of the judges, Gareth Cliff. He said, as long as I live my life thruthfully, I have nothing to fear from anyone.

“Right now, at this moment in this studio at 10 to six in the morning, I am the happiest man in South Africa. And I hardly feel tired at all!”

Later, on John Robbie’s breakfast show, Khaya revealed: “I am a completely different person to the man I was three months ago. Then I was a musician struggling to make a living, to prove to my parents I could make it.

“At school we were all forced to audition for the school choir, my teachers would ask me to sing and I never really wanted to!

”But both my parents are pastors at our church and that’s where I fell in love with music and I decided that this is what I wanted to do.

“I remember the first audition in uShaka Marine World in Durban. I was nearly falling asleep, I’d been waiting for so long to do my piece, the queues were huge. But the judges gave me my chance.

“The most important thing was to convince my dad I was doing the right thing. But after the Theatre Week he was convinced. My whole family came to watch every one of my live Idols shows. Even when they should have been doing other things. I’m so grateful for that.

 “I look up my father, he is my hero. He taught me to be the man I am today.

“You won’t believe the amount of work DSTV do behind the scenes to make sure I am prepared for this moment. It’s enormous. They teach you how to deal with the hype, the social media, the attention. It’s like they stick you in a microwave, push a button and you come out ready.”

Robbie, the former Irish rugby player and tough-tackling, award-winning interviewer, didn’t take it easy on Mthethwa. When he compared him “all young and athletic” to the three men in court for the murder of former heavyweight boxing champion Corrie Sanders this week, Khaya didn’t flinch. He said: “I just hope I can be a role model for young people in South Africa, that they can see what can be achieved. There is another way.”

Robbie warned the devout Christian how his faith would be tested, how he would experience things he had never expected as a reality television star. But Khaya took it all on the chin, leaving Robbie raving: “Honestly, I’ve never watched Idols in my life. I only grabbed Khaya in the corridor outside because I knew he’d won, and I‘m always interested in winners.

“I have to say, after talking to him, he is one of the most impressive young men I have ever met. An absolute joy to talk to.”

There are political undertones of course. Khaya’s victory – the first Idols win by a black South African in eight attempts – came at the expense of the extremely attractive rival finalist Melissa Alison with a record THREE MILLION votes cast in the weeks building up to Tuesday night’s sparkling finale at Mosaiek Tatro in Fairland.

But Khaya, a staunch Christian and a member of Joyous Celebration, insists he “gets sad" about the race issue. It was left to his close pal and radio presenter Akhumzi Jezile to say: “I’ve never seen so many black people excited about Idols.”

And as Khaya prepares for a new life armed with a winners’ cheque of R1m and a recording contract with Universal Music, Jezile added: "I believed in Khaya from his first audition. When he decided to enter, he came to my mom's house carrying a stack of CDs. The only one I remember was Bruno Mars. And that was what got him through his first audition – Bruno’s The Way You Are."

Why always me? Here's why Mario, we just don't know what to make of your particular talents

"The boy should have been off. Balotelli has kicked Scott Parker in the head . He's back-heeled him in the head. He does it a lot, I've seen it. What does Scottie think? He thinks he kicked him in the head. I don't know why you would do that on a football pitch. Have a look at it on your machines. It's there for everybody to see."
With those words from Harry Redknapp, Mario Balotelli's place right at the forefront of our footballing headlines were assured.
By then, the experts in the Premier League's international studio had already assured us that the Ghanian-born Italian's graceless stomping on the prone Parker were deliberate.
Andy Townsend insisted "the FA should take another look at that" while Alan Curbishley had "no doubts about it". The first stagger, where a foot cracked Parker as Balotelli came down from an attempted shot, looked like an accident. But the second, a wicked stab of the heel, looked pretty damning.
But of course, the reason Balotelli stays at the forefront of our minds is that he doesn't stop at petulance and nastiness. He also throws in a dose of good football. And in this case, that meant going down in injury time for the vital Manchester City winner.
And then getting up to stick the penalty past Brad Friedel, the oldest and best in the Premier League, though you wouldn't think so if he passed you in the street dressed in a suit.
While the travelling Spurs fans and Redknapp vented their fury at the injustice of it all, they might have considered the greatest unfairness of all. That Jermain Defoe is only 5ft 6ins high. I've stood next to him. Knee high to the proverbial Zurich Grasshopper.
When Gareth Bale, scorer of an excellent leveller to make it 2-2 after nine frantic second half minutes featuring four goals, crossed the ball shortly before the Balotelli penalty, Defoe looked nailed on to score.
But his little legs just weren't long enough, the toe cap put the ball wide and City went up the other end to finish the challenge of the cheeky North Londonders forever.
Harry, after adding a few more choice Balotelli comments (unless I'm mistaken, he accused him of serial stomping), said: ''We had a great chance when Gareth laid it across to Jermain, we were all up on our seats thinking it was 3-2. It proves we're as good as anyone, they weren't better than us today but they nicked it in the 94th minute.
''We had a bad two or three minutes and conceded the two goals but we showed great character to come back and I could see us winning from there.'
Harry might consider the fate of Ledley King after this. Spurs had never lost with their perpectually injured centreback in the team. He barely trains due to an ongoing battle of the wounded knees. But he looked knackered for that last-gasp City foray into Tottenham's box. The foul on Balotelli was a nailed on penalty. The King is due for usurping with the pipe and slippers.
With Arsenal being completely outplayed by chasing Manchester United, it was another bad day for North London against the Mancunians. Back in August, when Arsenal lost 8-2 to United and Spurs were done 5-1 by City, it amounted to 13-3 in favour of the northerners.
It won't be as bad this time - Arsenal went down 2-1 despite yet another Robin van Persie goal - but the result is the same. Capital punishment. This title will be decided in Manchester.
For Arsenal, with two wins in seven games, the more worrying aspect of their defeat against United came with the crowd's response to the subsitution of the excellent young Southampton signing Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. With the out-of-sorts Andrei Arshavin coming on and a bumbling Theo Walcott looking embarrassed not to be replaced, the boos rang around the Emirates.
A few minutes later Danny Wellbeck won the game with Arshavin - featuring prominently on the box - failing to make a tackle.
Can Arsene Wenger survive another long-term assault from the critics?