Jesse Suntele is a South African actor, model, rapper and presenter who rose to fame by winning the second season of the BET reality competition series Top Actor Africa, in 2016.
Born in Johannesburg in 1992, his family moved to Bloemfontein when he was in Grade 4. He matriculated from St. Joseph's Christian Brothers College in Bloemfontein before moving back to Johannesburg.
Jesse studied sound engineering at the Academy of Sound Engineering but discovered a love of acting during his participation in numerous school plays. After landing the first professional audition he went to, he realised he had the acting bug despite no formal acting training.
He entered the SABC1 reality competition U Can Do It in June 2013 and made it to the Top 100. In the series, 25 finalists live together in an "academy", where they learn various tricks of the music industry from established musicians.
His next television appearance was a starring role in the Season 1 finale of the SABC1 docu-drama Ngempela, which aired on 6 May, 2014. It was his first credited television acting role.
Jesse next had a guest starring role on the SABC1 soapie Generations: The Legacy in 2015. In the same year he landed his first recurring role, as Kabelo on the e.tv soapie Ashes to Ashes. He returned in the role in Season 2 the following year.
His big break came in 2016, when he won the second season of Top Actor Africa on BET. He beat fellow contestants Shamilla Miller (South Africa) and Alex Khayo (Kenya) in the final episode of the season, which aired on Tuesday 24 May.
He guest starred in an episode of the SABC1 youth drama series Mutual Friends (Season 2, Episode 3), which aired on 1 September, 2016. Exactly one week later he debuted as an insert presenter on the BET lifestyle and entertainment magazine show BET A-List and after 37 episodes was promoted to one of the four anchor presenters, debuting when the show was revamped on 25 May, 2017.
Jesse had another high-impact role when he debuted in the recurring role of Tuelo (aka "Officer Bae") on the Mzansi Magic telenovela The Queen, making his first appearance in Season 1, Episode 88 (which aired on 29 December, 2016). On the show, his character is a policeman by day and a serial killer by night.
In April 2017, he joined the cast of the Vuzu Amp reality competition series The Hustle as one of the Season 2 contestants, using the rapper stage name J-Flo.
In 2018 he joined the e.tv soapie Rhythm City in the role of Nqaba, the suave, quick to anger son of Suffocate. He debuted on 7 May 2018.
The actor/singer is currently in a relationship with Thuthu whom he first spotted at the gym and started communicating via DMs on social media. Although he admits to having ulterior motives, Jesse said he was captured by Thuthu's tenacity among other things.