Outlook Mixtape: Double acts...with a twist

Three stories of platonic partnership from Outlook's archive: two determined canoeists from South Africa, friends who managed a legal first in Canada and the story of a global pop scandal.

Piers Cruickshanks and Siseko Ntondini are two of South Africa’s leading canoeists, though their paths into the sport could not have been more different. Piers, a white professional athlete and university professor, met Siseko as a poor black boy growing up in Soweto. Despite their contrasting backgrounds the pair formed an unexpected partnership. In 2014 they went on to win gold in the Dusi, one of Africa’s toughest and most prestigious canoe marathons. Manuela Saragosa found out about their experience in 2017.

When Natasha Bakht chose to have a child using a sperm donor, her friend Lynda Collins volunteered to be her birth coach. What began as an act of friendship turned into a groundbreaking legal milestone: together, they became the first non-romantic partnership in Canada to secure the parental rights typically reserved for traditional couples. Anu Anand heard about their journey in 2017.

Fab Morvan became world famous with the 80s pop band Milli Vanilli. He and his bandmate Rob Pilatus notched up number one hits in Europe and America and sold millions of albums. But they had a secret - and when that secret came out, it had a devastating effect. Fab Morvan spoke to Outlook's Karnie Sharp in October 2018.

Presenter: Asya Fouks
Producer: Emily Naylor

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(Photo: A transparent 60-minute cassette tape on a white background with a white label with the words: The Outlook Mixtape. Credit: Getty Images)