Andy Williams once called the holiday season “the most wonderful time of the year,” but that otherwise kind and hopeful sentiment does not always ring true for everybody. On some occasions, as the family and other loved ones are coming together to exchange gifts and celebrate good tidings, something happens at the most inconvenient moment that brings the festivities to a screeching halt. You can see what we mean by watching one of the best TV dramedies on Netflix, How to Ruin Christmas.
The hilarious South African series, which first premiered on the platform in 2020, follows a wealthy, dysfunctional family and its ongoing struggles to enjoy a family get-together around the holiday season — typically of a lavish and high-profile sort — without things getting out of control. The series’ latest installment sees most of the main characters (along with a new cast member) coming back together again for another important milestone with inevitably disastrous results. The following is a taste of all the chaos you have to look forward to witnessing in How to Ruin Christmas Season 3 — starting with where on the 2022 Netflix TV shows schedule you can find it.
How To Ruin Christmas Season 3 Debuts On Netflix In December
It should probably come as no surprise that a TV show called How to Ruin Christmas is, just like its first two installments, streaming on Netflix in December, just in time for the holiday season. Fans can consider it an early Christmas gift, along with the many Christmas movies streaming on Netflix now, if they will.
To be more specific, the premiere of How To Ruin Christmas Season 3 drops on the platform Friday, December 9, 2022. We cannot, at the moment, say how many episodes this season will consist of, but based on Season 1’s three episode-run and how the second installment was told in four chapters, it will likely be yet another modestly sized batch. What we can confidently reveal, however, is where the new season will take place.
Season 3’s Plot Revolves Around A Baby Shower
Despite its title, How to Ruin Christmas is a TV series that is similar to Christmas movies like Die Hard in which the holiday itself is not really the focal point of the story. The first season — subtitled “The Wedding” — centered on the disastrous circumstances surrounding the Christmas Day nuptials of Beauty Sello and Sbu Twala, while the second, “The Funeral,” revolved around the sudden death of the Twalas’ matriarch (Nandi Nyembe), who was then laid to rest on December 25. For Season 3, the Sellos and the Twalas are coming back together to celebrate the incoming arrival of a new family member.
As its subtitle suggests and the official Season 3 trailer confirms, How to Ruin Christmas: The Baby Shower is set largely at a party in honor of Beauty and Sbu and the impending birth of their first child. However, rivalries between certain family members, damning secrets coming to light, and other intense circumstances put a major damper on things, forcing the characters to push through yet another chaotic family gathering. Oh, and it also takes place around Christmas.
Denise Zimba Joins The How To Ruin Christmas Season 3 Cast
As the Season 3 plot description above suggests and Yomzanzi reports, Thando Thabethe and Sandile Mahlangu are reprising their roles on the How to Ruin Christmas cast as Beauty Sello and Sbu Twala, respectively. Also returning for the new season are Clementine Mosimane as Dineo Sello, Charmaine Mtinta as Valencia Twala, Rami Chuene as Aunt Grace, Desmond Dube as Uncle Shamrock, Motlatsi Mafatshe as Themba Twala, and Trevor Gumbi as Siya Twala.
A new face will also appear on the How to Ruin Christmas Season 3 cast in the form of South African actor, singer, dancer, and TV personality Denise Zimba. Her character, Zama, is described by News 24 as a “determined slay queen” who is the source of some of the chaos surrounding the central festivities at the baby shower.
Season 3 Will Reportedly Not Feature Late Star Busi Lurayi
The protagonist for the first two seasons of How to Ruin Christmas, Tumi Sello — whose knack for getting into trouble causes problems for her sister, Beauty’s, wedding and indirectly leads to Gogo Twala’s death — was played to much acclaimed by Busisiwe “Busi” Lurayi. Unfortunately, the actor — also known for her small role on ER in 2006 and the British family drama Wild at Heart — suddenly passed away on July 10, 2022, at the age of 36.
Lurayi’s untimely death is not the reason for her absence in How to Ruin Christmas Season 3, as Okmzansi reports. Per the site, her role had already been written out of the show, as teased by an Instagram video from June that sees Tumi leaving the family group chat, following her addition to the cast of a drama called Scandal!
Johnny Barbuzano Returns To Direct Season 3
At the helm of all three episodes of the first season of How to Ruin Christmas was Johnny Barbuzano, while Season 2 was headed by the series’ co-creators Katleho Ramaphakela and Rethabile Ramaphakela, who directed two episodes each. As the filmmaker confirmed in a video interview with ZkhiphaniTV, Barbuzano is returning as “one of the directors” of How To Ruin Christmas Season 3.
The South African director is also known for his feature-length directorial debut from 2013, Shotgun Garfunkel — in which he also co-stars alongside his co-screenwriters, Tiffany Barbuzano (also his wife) and Ryan Norwood Young — and the 2014 made-for-TV movie The Gift. He also helmed other TV series like Still Breathing, Sober Companion, and more than 850 episodes of the South African telenovela, The River.
Acclaimed for its viewers and critics alike for its sharp and darkly satirical writing, stellar cast, and refreshingly honest representation of South Africa culture, How to Ruin Christmas will surely keep you laughing all day and all through the night. If you have not already, do not miss your chance to stream How to Ruin Christmas on Netflix and catch up on the story before the premiere of Season 3.
