Some Big Brother Africa fans finally got what they were secretly longing for on Sunday when Nigerian housemate, Beverly Ada Osu, went on a bathtub romp with South Africa’s Angelo. A video clip of the two, which has since gone viral on the Internet did not show any penetration but the young woman has made history as the first Nigerian to have sexual intercourse (‘outercourse’ if you wish) since the show went pan-African in 2003. It is the stuff wet dreams are made of.
Desperate upstarts and celebrities at the fag-end of their careers often pull all manner of stunts to build or save whatever claim they have to fame. And for a 21-year-old model, who has publicly confessed to sleeping with men for money, almost anything is possible for $300,000. It was never a question of whether Beverly would have sex in the Big Brother House; it was a matter of when and with whom.
You have to forgive Beverly though; Endemol, the producers of the reality TV series, seems to prefer contestants with greater shock value with each edition of the show.
The first edition of Big Brother on the continent was held in South Africa in 2001. It was strictly a South African affair with all the housemates coming from the Rainbow nation. When it was disclosed that Nina, one of the housemates, had gone into the house with a pack of condoms many were alarmed at what they termed prelude to unbridled sex. Nina was one of the first to be evicted from the show and she went home with all her condoms intact. There was no record of anybody having sex in that edition.
The show returned two years later with contestants from 12 African countries. This time it was known as Big Brother Africa. Nigeria was represented by Alexander Adebayo Adetomiwa, a 28-year-old economist from Oturkpo, Benue State, who spent more time eating and arguing over irrelevant things. He did not hit it off with the fairer sex and was the sixth person to be evicted. The joke is that he helped himself to some cutlery on his way out of the house.
Although the first Big Brother Africa in 2003 was won by Cherise Makubale, a 24-year-old procurement officer from Kitwe, Zambia, the stand out contestants were Gaetano Kagwa from Uganda and Abergail (Abby) Brigette Plaatjies, a 25-year-old fraud consultant from South Africa. The duo’s claim to fame was the in-your-face romantic relationship that saw them spend more time between the sheets than on their feet. An episode saw the two disappear under the bed sheet. Nobody knew what actually happened, leaving the show host, Mark Pilgrim, to ask Abby if she was pregnant at her eviction on August 17, 2003. Her inability to say yes or no was translated by many to mean that she had unprotected sex with Gaetano, and could not say for sure what her state was when she was leaving the house.
Series 2 of Big Brother Africa began airing on August 5, 2007.
As with the previous series, the show involved 12 countries namely Angola, Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. That edition will always be remembered for the controversy that erupted after Nigeria’s Ofunneka Molokwu was sexually assaulted by Richard Dyle Bezuidenhout. The cameramen were caught off guard and images of the Tanzanian violating Ofunneka, who had passed out from drinking, were beamed all over the continent. Before then Richard, who was married to a Canadian, was romantically linked to Angolan model, Tatiana, in the house. Richard eventually won the 2007 edition of Big Brother Africa, leaving many fuming that he should have been ejected after the episode with Ofunneka, who came second for all her trouble.
Nigerian federal lawmakers kicked after the 2007 show of shame and a number of sanctions were imposed on Mnet, the broadcasters of the show in Nigeria. The biggest fallout of the controversy was the yanking off of the Shower Hour from the regular screening. It was also mandated that any DStv subscriber, who wants to watch subsequent editions, must specifically request for it.
Twenty-five-year-old Uti Nwachukwu represented Nigeria in 2008. Unlike Ofunneka, who stayed until the last day of the previous edition, Uti was the third evictee in the third series.
It was double whammy for Nigeria in 2009 with IK Osakioduwa emerging as new host and Kevin Chuwang Pam walking away with the grand prize of $200,000 on December 6, 2009 after 91 days of isolation.
Uti returned in 2010 to win what was termed Big Brother Africa: All Stars.
Thunder struck thrice for Nigeria when Karen Igho emerged joint winner in 2011 and walked away with $200,000. Like Beverly, Karen made a quick statement of intent immediately she entered the house. With a CV that included private dancing and breast enlargement, the young woman cut the picture of an inflatable doll that could not do the right thing to save her life. Many Nigerians found her repulsive at the beginning but the tune changed as she survived one eviction after the other. Her eventual victory was celebrated even by some of her worst critics and she returned home to a warm reception.
Late Goldie Harvey represented Nigeria last year but she was too plastic to make any meaningful impact.
Big Brother Africa has since become routine. Viewers and housemates were jaded after seven seasons of Big Brother Africa. Beverly obviously knows this. With $300,000 at stake and not much dignity left after years of abuse, jumping into the tub with Angelo is the least of her worries. She should also be the least of Nigerians’ worries.
But something tells me that not everybody calling her a whore publicly really wants her out of the show. Many will renew their DStv subscription to see a repeat of what she did with Angelo.
Like Karen, public opinion about her might change the longer she stays in the house. And if she is lucky enough to come back home with the grand prize, do not be surprised if she becomes a regular on the red carpet. This time with her clothes on.
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