Velile Tshabalala
Velile Tshabalala (born 09 March 1984) is a British actress, known for portraying Kareesha Lopez in "Kerching!" and Rosita in the 2008 "Doctor Who" special "The Next Doctor". Background. Born in Whitechapel, London, Tshabalala was raised in Ilford. She is of Zimbabwean descent. Her father is a mechanical engineer and her mother is a health visitor. She has one sister and two brothers. She trained at the Sylvia Young Theatre School, where she attended weekend classes from the age of 14. Career. Tshabalala made her professional debut at the age of 18, in the CBBC sitcom "Kerching!". She  played waitress Kareesha Lopez, who did very little work and was a stereotypical teenage girl. She played several roles in all three series of the BBC Three sketch comedy "Tittybangbang". She appeared as a prostitute in the 2004 short film "Streets". In January 2008, she played a librarian in the "ChuckleVision" episode "Jumping Jackpot". She played Rosita in that year's "Doctor Who" Christmas special "The Next Doctor". She made her pantomime debut in the 2008 production of "Dick Whittington's Cat" at the Compass Theatre in Ickenham. In 2011, Tshabalala very briefly appeared in the penultimate episode of series  three of the E4 series "Misfits" as the gangs' newest probation worker, Laura. However, she only lasted for a matter of seconds after arriving at the community centre, ultimately being killed after being bitten by a zombie. In July 2014, she completed filming on the feature film "The Journey". In November 2021, it was announced that Tshabalala had been cast in the Channel 4 soap opera "Hollyoaks" as Viv, the mother of established character DeMarcus Westwood (Tomi Ade). She is currently starring as Gloria in "Running with Lions" at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre.