MY NEW CHAPTER

After 23 years on the show, she'll miss her 7de Laan family but actress Ingrid Paulus

- ELRIBOUCHER

SH E ’ S used to moving around – over the years she and her husband have had several homes in and around Johannesburg and she’s become an expert at packing and unpacking boxes.

But this time, things are different. Ingrid Paulus isn’t only saying goodbye to the City of Gold, she’s bidding farewell to the set that’s become like home, the people who’ve become like family – and the character whose skin she’s lived in for so long.

Ingrid (46), who became a household name after playing Vanessa in 7de Laan, recently filmed the final scenes of the hit SABC2 soapie and it’s been tough.

“I’m still recovering,” she says. “I miss my people, my Laan family.”

The living room of her and husband Denver Vraagom’s home is stacked with boxes to be transported to Cape Town and it’s been quite a process, she tells us.

“When I started packing a few weeks ago, I became very anxious because it’s traumatic to pack up your life.

“I got home one Saturday and told Denver I’m panicking now, I don’t know if I can do this. He just sat me down and said, ‘It’s going to be okay, we’re going to have to get on with it and do what puts us outside our comfort zone’.”

Saying goodbye to Hillside and its people has been bittersweet for Ingrid. Although she’ll miss her colleagues terribly, she’s looking forward to the beginning of a new and unknown chapter.

“It’s scary but also exciting. Hope is brewing within me, even though I haven’t found anything permanent yet. I’m the kind of person who thrives on making and executing plans, but right now all my plans are out the window. And that’s okay.