20 years of Big Brother

_______________

WHAT’S UP!

This weekend, as we watched the launch of the 10th season of Big Brother Naija, it struck me that I have been watching some version of Big Brother for the last 25 years. A whole quarter century of my life!

First was Big Brother South Africa (2001), which I just watched bits and pieces of. So much so that when the Housemates visited Uganda and I was asked to attend the press conference, I had nothing to say; to the embarrassment of the host Irene Kulabako, who thought I would be asking the questions.

But I made up for it in 2003 when Big Brother Africa started, and I was there when Gaetano Kagwa became the first to enter the Big Brother Africa House. I was also there when he and the rest of them finally left the house six months later. And I was with him when he landed at Entebbe Airport with South African Housemate Abby in tow, to what has been said is the largest ever crowd to welcome anybody at the airport.

In fact, it can be argued that Gae was Uganda’s first genuine celebrity. His stars were aligned, and he found himself in Big Brother UK, where he became a UK celebrity. No Ugandan had ever featured so prominently in the British tabloids; today’s so-called celebrities are really just jokers.

Those folks watching Big Brother Naija now have no idea what amounted to mass hysteria that Big Brother Africa caused around the continent. And I don’t think DStv has ever been as popular and probably made as much money as then. In Kampala, offices were forced to get TVs and connect them or their employees would be somewhere else watching the latest in the house. I still remember the New Vision newsroom coming to a standstill as everyone stopped to watch Shower Hour. Crazy times, those were.

Almost every small pub all over Africa was forced to get connected so its patrons could watch BBA, and whole communities formed around Eviction Sunday and Nomination Monday. Relations were formed, and some marriages broke down, as people met and mingled while watching Big Brother. And DStv’s eviction parties were the hottest tickets in town for a long time.

BBA was such a big deal that the President’s office arranged for Gaetano, Abby and Kenyan Housemate Alex to meet President Yoweri Museveni in Soroti, where he had camped.

I accompanied them as we travelled in Charles Hamya’s SUV, but it was a really cramped ride, what with several Multichoice officials who came along.

So, at the end of the meeting with the President, Abby asked if we could borrow the Presidential helicopter, to which he surprisingly agreed. And when we touched down at Kololo Airstrip, the united press corps were waiting for us.

BBA united citizens of African countries and then divided them, too. If a neighbouring country’s Housemate was up for eviction and yours was not, calls went out on Facebook (the then-dominant social media platform) to support the neighbours. So, it was considered a serious case of betrayal when, in the final of BBA Amplified (2011), Kenya voted for the white Zimbabwean housemate, Wendal Parsons, instead of the Ugandan Sharon O, who came out fifth.

Wendall was declared joint winner with Nigeria’s Karen. Some Kenyans claimed the voting was rigged.

The last BBA was season 9, in 2014, and it had its troubles. The original Big Brother House was burnt down in mysterious circumstances, and a replacement one had to be hastily built. Unfortunately, no Ugandan housemate ever got higher than fourth place, with Maureen Namatovu reaching that height in 2004.

Gaetano, Sharon O and Kyle Kushaba (2012) managed fifth place. Since then, rumours have been rife that Big Brother Africa will return, but nothing has happened. When Big Brother Mzansi (featuring South Africans) was relaunched in 2022, there was speculation about a possible Big Brother East Africa, featuring housemates from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda. But, again, zilch.

Instead, year after year, we have had to watch Nigerians go at it in BB Naija. Two years ago, there was a difference with Big Brother Titans, which featured Housemates from Nigeria and South Africa. Again, rumours of a BBA resurfaced, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.

But maybe DStv might rethink this. The reality is that its subscriber numbers have been falling, and the company has lost a lot of goodwill. A Big Brother Africa would fix that in the blink of an eye. I really wish them well, cos Multichoice and M-Net have been good to me over the years.

I don’t know the economics behind it, of course. There has been talk of how sponsors for a possible BBA are hard to come by, but it would be great to have one more. One last hurrah, hey lads?

Elsewhere, I heard that Gae wants to organise a re-union of the original Housemates from 2003. If you do, count me in, mate. I was there when it all went down. And maybe DStv would want to be part of it, too. The folks who watched BBA are probably the last generation to pay for DStv, the young ones are all about streaming and hacked free links. On last big party would do just fine.