We got real with 5FM presenter Leah Jazz about her radio show, normalising discussions on sex, and queerness in the media industry.
What makes your 5fm show as unique as it is?
5 After Hours is a late-night show, so I get to be a little more spicy. Any medium for me has always been about staying true to myself and the things I’m passionate about – sex education, self-growth, current affairs, comedy, and of course relationships. Creating this show was about making a space where people would feel comfortable to be themselves, bare their souls and have a good laugh.
Can you tell us about your matchmaking segment?
Late Night Date Night happens every Thursday at 11 pm when the date of the night meets two potential matches live on air and gets to know them without seeing them. Is love blind? Maybe. So far we’ve had some dates progress beyond on-air, but no one’s asked me to officiate the wedding yet. What a story for the grandkids though, huh?
Your Insta is the holy grail of body acceptance – what advice would you give to others about accepting their bodies and who they are?
We’ve been taught for years that the way our bodies look is important. This is a lie! Your body is not an ornament. It doesn’t exist to be looked at or judged, it exists to experience all the beautiful, sensual, gorgeous things that are in the world. I really feel as though my body is a vehicle for pleasure, and when I realised all the wonderful things my body does for me (like getting me around from place to place, cooking delicious meals and then eating them, laughing at memes, making dumb TikToks), suddenly the way it looks doesn’t really matter. It’s an ongoing struggle, but I like the idea of not attaching a value judgement to my body. It just carries my brain around and feels out the world for me.
How has the journey of navigating queerness and sexuality in the media industry been for you?
There’s plenty of sex in media! Movies, TV shows and music are extremely hypersexual. I don’t get why it’s shameful for me to talk about sex after playing literally anything by Cardi B. Stats show that cisgendered heterosexual women only climax during partnered sex 65% of the time, compared to 95% of their male counterparts. Women are having bad sex, and someone needs to talk about it, because that doesn’t have to be the case. If we start a collective conversation about how to pleasure our partners and how to communicate our needs and wants, that pleasure suddenly becomes accessible. But how can you have that conversation with your partner if you’re ashamed? If we’re playing ‘WAP’ on the radio, we should be able to have conversations about sex without blushing. As far as queerness is concerned, our country is still violently homophobic (even though our constitution is so progressive). Using my platform to champion and really just represent other queer people (including bisexuals – the often forgotten B in LGBTQIA+) is incredibly important, especially as one of the few openly queer presenters in South African radio. We’re here, we’re queer, and you will see us.
Compiled By: Saadiqah Schroeder
Photography: Courtesy images
