Dawn Matthews as Shakira
- Dawn is 38 years old, born January 1976
- Prior to her role in scandal she was known for her role as Constable Gillian Peterse on the SABC1 drama series Interrogation Room, from 2004-2006.
- Born and grew up in Oudtshoorn
- She studied drama at Stellenbosch University, where she graduated in 1997
- After studying, Dawn did a stint at Cape Town’s Artscape Theatre and performed in community theatre productions in the area.
- She got her first break in the Afrikaans drama series Soutmansland
- She has appeared in numerous other prominent television soapies and dramas including Egoli (2000-2001) and Song vir Katryn (2003-2005), co-presented the Afrikaans arts show Kunskafee on kykNET and completed an American horror movie, Snake Island, in 2002.
- She was one of the featured celebrities on the first season of the South African version of the genealogy documentary series Who Do You Think You Are? (based on the British series of the same name), which premiered on SABC2 in May 2009.
- She has done commercials for Old Mutual, Carlsberg International, Albany, Clover, Standard Bank
- She dances modern hiphop
