Before long it was obvious that 7de Laan's San-Mari van Graan (Amalia Uys) not only fell under the spell of this enigmatic guy, but that Diederik Greyling would have to do more than just write tunes and sing love songs to ensure that the passionate red-head didn't give him his marching orders.

Obstacle course
On 14 January the impossible happened – San-Mari and Diederik's romance suddenly ended when San-Mari arrived late for Diederik and the rest of the boy band's performance at the opening of Helena's gallery.

This was just the chance which sneaky Conrad had been waiting for. With no other man standing in his way, he made absolutely sure that he became the rock in San- Mari's life. He gave her the assurance she needed and told her that he understood and supported her in the big task that she was undertaking in her preparations for the biathlon competition – something which few guys would be able to understand.

"There is definitely a sexual attraction between San-Mari and Conrad," says Hykie. "But the bigger attraction for my character is that he wants to stroke his ego by letting others achieve what he himself could not. For him it's all about winning – there is no such thing as second place. And he'll do everything in his power to get San-Mari to train herself to the point of exhaustion."

"Look, San-Mari really loves Diederik, but she also really loves sport," says Amalia. "Suddenly she finds herself in the company of a man with whom she spends a lot of time and who she can chat to about sport." And she quickly adds: "And it helps that he's quite easy on the eye!"

How far Conrad is willing to go, quickly becomes apparent when he tries to manipulate San-Mari. And she'll do anything to please this guy, they share the same interests – but the lengths that she will go to, is also starting to become clear to 7de Laan viewers.

It's not only his charms that make San-Mari's resistance crumble and his psychological hold on her tighten – he also has a secret weapon: anabolic steroids.

Fancy footwork
Not only does Conrad ensure that San-Mari becomes addicted to his approval and guidance, but he also ensures that she unknowingly becomes completely enslaved to the pills that he gives her. Without the steroids, San-Mari becomes tired, moody, frustrated, irritable and rude – she basically undergoes a complete personality change.

"There is not that much of a difference between Darius du Buisson and Conrad Goosen," says Hykie. "They are both egocentric, self-centred guys who use other people for their own glory." He quickly adds that he never gets to play the romantic lead role, and that he "always ends up with the role of the villain. It's actually cool to play the bad guy, becasue there is usually more meat to the role."

"San-Mari suddenly realises how messed up her priorities are, and it's not only the biathlon and the anabolic steroids that are getting her down. She's still a young woman who can become side-tracked very quickly," Amalia said when tvplus asked her about her character's contribution to her fall. "There are actually quite a few resemblances between myself and San-Mari, but I think she is still a bit more naïve than me. But what we do have in common, is the fact that we both have very high energy levels – we just express it differently."

Sweating blood
Luckily for San-Mari, Conrad's charms don't have any effect on Marko and Diederik. The two cousins quickly realise that there's more to Conrad than just his smouldering eyes and his body language that are motivating the aspiring athlete to give more than her best.

The boys become private detectives and discover that Mr Goosen isn't the picture of health he pretends to be. Marko finds out that Conrad was mysteriously fired from his job in Potchefstroom – a female athlete whom Conrad trained, collapsed during a competition and it nearly cost him his future as a trainer when it came out that he was up to some shady business.

The pieces of the puzzle later fit together when Diederik steals San-Mari's pills from her handbag and discovers that the pills, (which according to Conrad would give her that extra boost) are actually poisonous to her body.

Anabolic steroids can only be taken when prescribed by a doctor – they're not energy boosters that can just be chewed casually!

The clash
When Diederik confronts San-Mari on Wednesday 6 February about her incredibly strict programme in preparation for the biathlon competition, he's shocked to find out that she's not even interested in his opinion, and that she couldn't care less about the possible damage she's doing to her own body.

San-Mari firmly sticks to Conrad's rules. It's then that Diederik finally realises what Conrad is really doing. He gets his athletes under his control so that he can have a psychological hold (and therefore an advantage!) on them, so that they'll do anything for him – no matter what it is, or what the consequences are!

It's a bitter pill for Diederik to swallow when San-Mari trusts Conrad's word over his. Will San-Mari find out the truth before it's too late? Will the wimpy Diederik make a last attempt to put a spanner in Conrad's wheels? Will Conrad have a change of heart and put an end to his evil regime?

Spanner in the wheel?
The story comes to a shocking end when San-Mari doesn't pitch for a planned get-together with her friends. Diederik is no longer able to hide his concern and anger and he confronts Conrad in an outburst of rage.

Viewers will have to watch on Thursday 7 and Friday 8 February to find out if love will conquer all, if San-Mari will come out whole on the other end and what Jan-Hendrik will do when he finds out what's been going on in his gym! What is certain, is that Conrad is done for.

And San-Mari? "San-Mari is a strong girl – she has already experienced difficult times and disappointments," Amalia says. She also thinks that San-Mari "might only realise what she really has in life when she stands the chance of losing it".