PUSHIE WATSON
REFUSING TO PLAY SMALL Article images courtesy of P. Watson
Previously known as Pushie Dunn, she was first introduced to the African public as a television presenter in 1997 and grew to become a well-known face across the continent. Originally from Liberia, Pushie’s culturally diverse heritage lead her to further her education in Kenya and Ghana, followed by a study related gap year in the Gambia before finally immigrating to South Africa. Since then her career has evolved in more ways than one. Between 1997 and 2002: she was a television presenter on DSTV’s Channel O music station where she attended the Grammies, and interviewed the likes of Janet Jackson, P. Diddy etc., exposing her to audiences all over Africa. She concurrently presented a show on SABC 3 called Health Wealth, which was a specialist medical show enlightening the public about a myriad of health procedures. She was subsequently approached by SABC 1 to co-host the music variety show Jam Alley, which ultimately gave her the opportunity to connect with an even larger South African audience. Thereafter, she presented a number of television programs such as Africa Within - a lifestyle and travel show that focused on the African diaspora and was broadcast on DSTV’s Africa Channel
and is currently airing on the Africa Channel in USA. She was also the perfect choice to be the master of ceremony for SABC’s live millennium broadcast, for Johannesburg, at the turn of the millennium. In 2002, she briefly ventured into acting appearing in the popular local television soap opera, Backstage. By 2003, Pushie had reached a turning point in her life and surrendered to the call of God to begin serving in ministry. With her extensive experience as a television personality, she took the opportunity to serve at Rhema Bible Church, volunteering in the television department. Her work included recording the screened Sunday service
announcements and introducing Pastor Ray McCauley’s nationally broadcasted sermons on local television stations ETV and SABC 2. Moreover, she was chosen to be the main broadcaster for Rhema Television - RTV, anchoring links and becoming the master of ceremony for various conferences, which often hosted international guest speakers such as Brian Houston, Joel Osteen, Joseph Prince, Jentezen Franklin, John Bevere and Bernice King, all of whom she interviewed. She went on to become the Head of Women’s Ministry at Rhema Bible Church, running the department and speaking at their conferences. Her latest platform was as the hostess of her own gospel talkshow called: Real Talk with Pushie on Top TV’s Top Gospel channel, which started in 2011. She is currently in production for her own talk show called: My Destiny with Pushie on TBN Africa. She firmly believes that having returned to television with a wealth of ministerial knowledge and experience has enlarged her territory and sphere of influence from the pulpit to the public. Affectionately known as ‘Pastor P’, Pushie is regularly invited to preach at churches, schools, universities, and conferences nationwide. Pushie recently had a chat
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