JP Robberts. Photos: Supplied
That smile. Ouch.
A first class trip to Heaven … That’s what the mom of a young hemiphlegia* sufferer said Mr SA finalist JP Robberts will get as a reward for his support of her daughter. She wrote it in a letter which she posted on his Facebook page after he promised to give a portion of his income to the little girl for the rest of his career. He doesn’t speak about it when we meet in Hart Breadhouse & Eatery to discuss the Mr South Africa competition.
JP is rushed off his feet on the day of our meeting. He had to rush to Hart from his home on a farm between Melkbosstrand and Philadelphia. And soon he has to hit the gym for his daily hour-and-a-half long training session before he heads for the offices of Symantec in Century City where he is a learning and development specialist. A big title and so is its implication. He trains all of the software company’s new personnel.
Farmboy. JP grew up on a big cattle farm in Namibia.
There are simply too many demands on his time, one would say. Apart from working for Symantec and drumming up votes for his Mr South Africa campaign, JP is recording his first single. About this he is tantalisingly mysterious; only willing to say that it is called “She gets me” and that it is dedicated to his very special friend Natalie. In between all of this he still manages to model for Faith Model Management.
Life on a cattle ranch
Too much, one is tempted to say exclaim. But on this morning he looks as smooth as a young Clark Gable in jeans and a discreetly expensive shirt that’s the colour of red wine. Savouring a cappuccino, he tells me about his past. He’s a farmboy. And it’s probably thanks to growing up on a rough ‘n tumble cattle ranch outside Gobabis in Namibia that he can weather the demands of his present life.
From Gobabis to the metropolis.
JP remembers playing the clown from early on, and how his grandmother said that perhaps he should take up modelling as he had inherited his parents’ tallness and his mother’s looks. He shakes off the underlying compliment, as if it is of no concern to him. Last year he could have thanked those good genes though. JP was chosen as Mr Look 2015 and he made it into the top three of the Mr South Africa competition.
A man of many moments.
No tantrums
“I’m very competitive,” he comments. “But I’m competitive in a nice way. My aim is to make it internationally. If Charlize Theron can do it, I can do it. The only difference is that I haven’t had a temper tantrum in a bank.”
Translated, I think that this means that he is a giver and a taker. He will give to people who need a little help, people like little Esri Botes who was born paralysed* on one side of her body and whose mother loves him to bits and wrote to him, “May everyone see in you what we as a family do. I wish that everyone can see you through our eyes!” And he will accept the fruits of his hard work when the time comes. The little smile around his mouth says it all. Having a go at the big time is tough. But hey, he can deal with it.
To vote for JP, simply SMS MRSA007 to 47439.
