Despite her clear passion for music and stage, Christel was well on her way to a medical future at the University of Johannesburg with a BSc Human Physiology and Psychology.

She yearned to perform and took a leap of faith and in spite a lack of formal training; her raw talent led her to be accepted to the UJ Song and Dance Company, where she began performing whilst completing her studies.  

With the company, she played roles a diverse as Maria in West Side Story, Zenzi in Ian von Memerty's Jump for Joy, Madamme Fortuna in The Heart is Round under the direction of Charmaine Weir-Smith and Fraulein Schneider in the classic Cabaret.

All to rave reviews and attracting the attention future directors.  Christel made her professional debut in the South African production of High School Musical in the principle role of Taylor McKessie and continued on to the very successful Asian tour.

She was very recently seen in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Boys in the Photograph. Apart from theatre, she is also a songwriter and lead singer of the acoustic band LinkSPHERE.