Few days ago, NET was contacted by the producers of Big Brother Naija that they would like to take one of our team members on a trip to South Africa as part of a media tour to the house. Thankfully I was chosen. I looked forward to the trip with excitement and high spirits.
It was all fun and games when we arrived South Africa until the Head Of Pr of M-Net West Africa, Efosa Aiyevbomwan, put a call through my hotel to tell us we were going to pass the night at the Big Brother house, not as journalists this time, but as ‘fake housemates’ for 14 hours.
At this point, so many thoughts ran through my mind- will it be aired? What if it was shown live and Twitter people drag me like they drag actual contestants? What if I end up disgracing my family members?
We- the media professionals on tour- had no choice than to submit our bags and phones and was thrown into the house to begin our fourteen hours of being fake housemates.
Here are the five major highlights from our 14 years(that’s what it felt like, not hours) in the Big Brother house.
14Hours With No Phones
Immediately we were ushered into the house, I discovered how connected and addicted we all are to our phones. After we hugged each other and got introduced to one another, we began moping into thin air. Imagine not replying Whatsapp messages or knowing the latest gist on Instagram. It was like a huge part of me was taken away from me, I could immediately imagine what the housemates will go through with their new ‘besties’ for three months.
New Friends
No matter how much of a loner you are, once you are disconnected from home, you get to meet new friends, new faces which you have never seen before. Tosin Ajibade from Olorisupergal served as head of house and our unofficial tour guide, as she told us stories about the Nelson Mandela Square, Capetown, Pretoria, Lesotho and so many other places. On the other hand, Niyi Adebiyi ( A radio presenter) made me laugh with his tales on Insomnia. He explained that he might keep up late because he had been battling with Insomnia since he was a small boy. when I asked him how he got insomnia, he said ‘while I was a little boy, every night at about 1pm, I go see say my mama don wake up, to dey kill mosquito for my body, it was tiring, she was always looking for mosquitoes, either on my body or on the window, and if she wasn’t doing any of that, I will wake up to her speaking in tongues’. I laughed at him till my ribs nearly came out.
Food
Well, this was the major highlight for me. The fridge was packed full with loads of fruits, exotic wine and luxury food that for a moment, I forgot that I was missing anything outside the house. Ik Nwosu of Bellanaija came in with his chef game and served us nicely made grilled chicken and steaks that I nicknamed him barbecue bae.
Games
Now that we had no wristwatches, No phones, no clothes, just food; we began to form acquaintances in order not to have various funny thoughts in our heads. Now I know that the Big brother experience is more than just the outdoor games the housemates play. It’s more like you begin to settle in quickly and get prepared for the fun in order not to lose your mind; and herein lies the games and schemes, because the next thing on your agenda becomes your plan on evicting the next person who pisses you off in order to stay sane. Now I know how to explain the bants between Tboss and Miyonce or Bisola and Miyonse.
Eviction
If you thought we were going to be emergency housemates without eviction, you were wrong. About three hours after we finished dinner, Big Brother’s voice finally spoke up. ‘This is big brother, Efosa, you broke one of the rules, you were not involved in any of the activities in the house, instead you only ate and slept afterwards. Really Bigge, somebody cannot sleep again? (I eyed him in my mind with my big eyeballs) You are hereby evicted from the Big brother house’ Again, I and the other housemates became sad. Nah fam, Efosa and another South African named Thobelo got evicted from the house.
For a moment, it felt real, especially because Efosa had been really helpful throughout the trip; so we hugged him and bade him good bye. We talked about different issues till we slept and got woken up the next morning by an alarm probably as loud as the trumpet which will be blown on judgement day. I shrugged and dragged myself out of my bed and I was extremely glad to be ushered out.
Kudos to the production crew at Red Pepper studios and Multichoice for putting up an organised but short time for my colleagues and I to have an experience of a lifetime at the Big Brother House.
