Local celebrities are making pet health a priority!

October is Pet Obesity Month and Hill’s Pet Nutrition is shining a light on this very serious, very prevalent condition. In fact, obesity is the number one health threat that pets face, with more than half of pets being overweight or obese. With this in mind, Hill’s started the Pet Slimmer programme over 15 years ago to help pets around the country shed unhealthy kilograms. The competition puts a fun spin on a serious issue and is used to raise awareness around the dangers of pet obesity.

This year’s celebrity judges who have the tough job of choosing 2021’s top three Pet Slimmer ambassadors are Thando Thabethe, Willem Botha, Yaaseen Barnes, Rego & Dise Khoele and Roxy Burger. All six are pet parents themselves and understand the importance of keeping their fur babies health in check.

The judges are spending this month deliberating who they feel is most deserving of first, second and third place in the Hill’s Pet Slimmer competition this year. The results will be announced on 1 November.

A little bit about each judge:

Thando Thabethe

Thando Thabethe's motto on her Instagram page (where she has over 3 million followers) is aptly put as #YouCan’tStopMyGo! A radio presenter on 947 Drive with Thando, actress, (most recently on M-NET’s Reyka) award-winning TV Presenter and owner of Thabooty’s Underwear & Shapewear, Thando is also proud mom to Coco and Cody, her beloved Toy Pom pups.

Willem Botha

A household name in the Afrikaans market with five music albums and various television, movie, and theatre performances, Willem has captured the hearts of young and old with his passion, talents and bubbly personality. The self-taught make-up guru and stylist is not only a master in front of the camera, but photographs some of the country’s biggest celebrities as well as the Miss South Africa contestants and pageant winners. Labelled as one of the most versatile celebrities in the country, his biggest passion remains music, his family, and his beautiful Yorkie, Seven.

Yaaseen Barnes

An inspiration to the stand-up comedy scene; Yaaseen hosts a weekly stand-up comedy gig to encourage the growth of female comedians and comedians of colour in Cape Town. Not just a pretty face up on the comedy stages; Yaaseen has also won the Good Hope FM’s Laugh Master Competition. He’s more than just Cape Town’s favourite funny guy, he is also a popular social media powerhouse. From the tweets, to the streets; he has featured on television in the SAFTA winning game show Point of Order, and has joined the Both Worlds writing team for Point of Order, Parlement Parlement, Comedy Central News, as well as the twice Emmy nominated ZANews. Yaaseen is the proud pet parent to his two kitties, Juno and Coco.

Rego & Dise Khoele

Regomoditswe Khoele and Modise Khoele are jointly known as RegoDise on their social media platforms. Rego is a Commercial Pilot and Dise is a Compliance Officer by profession. However, they also double up as Digital Content Creators, creating lifestyle and marriage-related content. They are adventurous and outgoing and love to have fun especially with their gorgeous Golden Retriever.

Roxy Burger

Roxy has hosted shows on nearly every broadcasting network in South Africa, from her flagship appearance on M-NET’s KTV to Strictly Come Dancing, Top Billing and MTV. She’s interviewed some of the biggest celebrities from around the globe, including Emilia Clarke, Rihanna, Larry King, Chris Brown, Liam Neeson, Sam Worthington, Jessica Alba, Maroon 5 and former President Thabo Mbeki. In 2017, she expanded her love of content creation by launching her blog and started her own luxury piercings range called Linear. She has two human babies and two fur babies, Dolly and Tiger.

Follow Hills Pet online and stay up to date:

Facebook: @HillsPetZA

Instagram: @hillspetfoodsa