Whew! What a thrilling time it has been on the Big Brother Nigeria (BBNaija) for the past 9 weeks. It has been nonstop entertainment laced with laughter, tears, anger, triumphs, and hope for the housemates.
And now, the finish line is almost here. With only 6 days left until someone walks away with the cash prize, the stakes have never been higher.
The last week in the house was one for the books.
Here is a recap of BBNaija Week 9:
SUNDAY (AFTER THE LIVE SHOW)
The eviction of Handi, Shaun, and Tjay dealt a huge blow to the housemates. Wanni was the one who was most affected, and she was seen sobbing as she tried to accept Shaun and Handi’s leaving.
She received comforting words from housemates who checked in on her to see how she was doing. Kassia also comforted Victoria who was sad about her former partner, Shaun’s eviction.
The housemates spent the rest of the night discussing how they would secure the Ultimate Head of House position, one which could guarantee them a spot in the final week and would be a fierce contest.
Monday; Kellyrae wins the HOH challenge
Monday started on a low note with housemates lounging around and gisting about the HOH games and their strategy to win the title. When it was time, they moved to the arena to compete. It was a fierce one but Kellyrae won and was crowned the Ultimate Head of House which saw him becoming the first finalist of the season.
Biggie reinstated the diary room nominations which saw the housemates enter the diary room to nominate two people each. Sooj, who miraculously avoided his name being called by anyone, was shocked to be announced as the second finalist.
After the dust settled, nine housemates, Anita, Kassia, Nelly, Ocee, Onyeka, Ozee, Topher, Victoria, and Wanni were put up for possible eviction.
Tuesday; emotional diary sessions with Biggie
Tuesday saw housemates, Kassia, Ocee, Onyeka, Ozee, Wanni and Victoria together, discussing how they would go about their week. Onyeka said she planned to party hard as it could be her last week in the house while Wanni admitted she was already looking forward to life outside the house.
Later, the housemates took to the diary room one by one to discuss their challenges. During her session, Nelly admitted to finding physical activities particularly tough, especially with coach Obi pushing them hard during workouts.
Ozee, on the other hand, revealed that his biggest challenge has been keeping his energy up as life in the house had become increasingly uncomfortable. Victoria said building connections with her fellow housemates had been the hardest for her but was glad to have found comfort in close friendships with Kassia and Kellyrae.
Kassia admitted to finding cooking and tasks that require a lot of reading or learning difficult but was proud that she was getting better each day.
Wanni spoke to Biggie about not being sure she would make it past week 9 while Onyeka, on the other hand, was filled with confidence about her efforts in the house. Topher and Anita also echoed their hopes of scaling through the week’s eviction.
Wednesday; Wager preparation
The day saw Kellyrae, Ocee, Onyeka, and Wanni brainstorming ideas for the week’s wager presentation and Onyeka was the designated writer. They explored concepts of past, present, and future aspects of Nigeria’s history and culture stretching back to the 1960s and projecting into the future “to envision how technology will reshape cultural practices”.
Anita turned up the romance and whipped up breakfast for her boo, Topher, who couldn’t help but smile as he ate his meal.
In the HoH condo, Kellyrae spoke to Kassia about his plan to reveal to the housemates their eight-month anniversary.
He also opened up about his late mother, expressing how much he wished she were alive to witness his accomplishments and experience the joys of his success. His wife reassured him, telling him how proud she was of his achievements.
In another corner of the house, Onyeka and Wanni had a spicy chat about their personal lives and how long they had gone without being intimate with a man.
Wanni confessed that she had never gone this long without being intimate with anyone while Onyeka, on the other hand, revealed that she once went four to five years being celibate.
Thursday; the return of Chinwe, Damilola, and Rhuthee
Thursday saw an unexpected twist. 3 evicted housemates Chinwe, Damilola, and Rhuthee came in dressed as ninjas and their reemergence shook things up pretty quickly.
Damilola wasted no time, going straight for Topher to hug him, a move he reciprocated and that caused drama in his ship with Anita. Later, he went to find his boo to reassure her about everything, telling her it was all ancient history between him and Damilola but Anita wasn’t convinced, questioning why Nelly had reacted so strongly to the hug if there wasn’t anything to worry about.
A few hours afterwards, tensions between Nelly and Chinwe turned into a full-blown fight as the housemates prepared for their upcoming wager. The two ladies cursed at each other as housemates tried to make peace.
Rhuthee also tried to ruffle some feathers and was confronted by Ocee after she took his plantain, to which she replied, “This is Biggie’s house, no one owns the food.”
He later had a chat with his twin, Ozee and Wanni about the issue saying that he can’t be exchanging words with her over food.
The Thursday night pool party saw the housemates turn up the heat on the dance floor and in the water. Back at the house, Kellyrae had a mini tussle with Kassia after she took eight meat pies which he insisted she brought out. Later, he tried to smooth things over but she didn’t respond.
Damilola and Topher also had a heart-to-heart, with the former airing her frustrations about how she’s been treated since her return to the house and being seen as a threat to his relationship with Anita.
Meanwhile, Chinwe and Rhuthee indulged in gossip about Nelly, calling her names with the latter making it clear she was going to keep poking Wanni for as long as she liked to get her to react.
Friday; another wager win
Friday started in earnest. Wanni confided in Kassia that she believed Rhuthee was trying to provoke her into a confrontation but she was determined to avoid any drama and just keep calm.
The trio of Nelly, Sooj, and Topher also had a chat about the returning houseguests and they were convinced that Chinwe, Damilola, and Rhuthee might have ulterior motives and Nelly planned to steer clear of any issues.
Later that morning, Onyeka struggled to pull the housemates together to have a proper rehearsal for their coming wager but it wasn’t going as planned. They eventually listened and had one in the house before heading to the arena for another.
That night, the housemates secured their fourth back-to-back wager win with a stellar performance and they were rewarded with drinks to celebrate.
Onyeka and Victoria clashed over vodka as the latter complained about her portion being too small, while the former argued that she had to share with more people. Fed up, Victoria threw a sly remark, telling Onyeka to enjoy the alcohol and walked away.
Wanni took the opportunity to vent about Rhuthee. Onyeka was supportive and reassured her that she was in the house to showcase her talents, while the twin doubled down, saying she wasn’t going to fight with someone who’s already out of the game.
Saturday; Party and chaos
Saturday morning saw Agents DRC – Chinwe, Damilola, and Rhuthee plotting to open locked compartments to steal the housemates’ drinks and making a scene by walking downstairs with them in hand.
Meanwhile, Nelly, while cooking in the kitchen, spoke to Wanni about her issues with Chinwe and called them personal attacks. Wanni agreed and both concluded that neither of the returning ladies posed any real threat to them.
In the evening during the Morning Fresh task, Ozee and Victoria took the opportunity to iron out some lingering issues. Victoria expressed her frustration with Ozee’s mood swings and he assured her that she misunderstood his demeanour.
A few hours later, the housemates had a memorable party that was packed with fun, dancing energy and alcohol.
After the party, the housemates surprised Kellyrae for his birthday by singing his self-composed song, a surprise which had been put together by Kassia and a gesture which made him emotional and feel appreciated.
As the housemates settled down for the night, trouble ensued. The DRC wasted no time revisiting their plans to cause chaos and Onyeka, Wanni, Ocee and Ozee showed great restraint even though they were at the forefront of the fight that quickly followed.
The returning housemates took turns raining insults on them, pushing and shoving them – all acts that were prohibited according to the rules of the house. Onyeka later expressed her frustration over a comment made by one of the ladies who called her a prostitute with Wanni labelling the girls’ behaviour as embarrassing and irrelevant, stating, “They did what they brought them for.”
Sunday; finalists emerge
As usual, the morning was spent by housemates in the salon who were getting ready for the live eviction show later that night. They also used the opportunity to go over the drama that had ensued after the party. Kassia finally summoned the courage to tell her friend, Victoria about her marriage to Kellyrae and it was received with happiness and hugs.
That afternoon, the DRC – Chinwe, Damilola and Rhuthee were sent out of the house by Biggie and the last 11 housemates were left alone to await their fates at the polls.
Immediately after the live show started, Kassia was evicted and two more evictions soon followed, which saw Topher and Ocee also leaving.
This left Anita, Kellyrae, Nelly, Onyeka, Ozee, Sooj, Victoria and Wanni as the Top 8 finalists of the season.
With one week left, the stakes are higher than ever and Sunday would see only one emerge as champion. Who it would be remains to be seen.
