Pearl Thusi

Pearl Thusi was born Sithembile Xola on May 13, 1988 in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa. During her teen years, Thusi accrued experience in professional modeling and the pageant circuit. By age 18, she began appearing on television productions hosted by the South African Broadcasting Corporation, After moving attending a number of different schools across several districts and provinces in childhood, Thusi enrolled in the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg-more popularly called Wits University-where she studied drama. Thusi soon found work in internationally broadcast television projects, the earliest of which included an episode of "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" (BBC/HBO 2008-09). In 2013, Thusi traveled to Jamaica to participate in the fifth season of the South African reality television series "Tropika Island of Treasure" (e.tv/SABC 1 2008-). She went on to host the following season of the show, which was filmed in Mauritius. Soon after, she found her highest-profile role yet on the American secret agent series "Quantico" (ABC 2015-), on which she played the character Dayana Mampasi, a successful lawyer new to the world of espionage. Following completion of said program, Thusi pursued a degree in communications from University of South Africa and took courses at Witwatersrand's business school. In 2016, Thusi became the host of the new series "Lip Sync Battle Africa" (MTV Africa 2016-).