Nigeria’s representative in the just-concluded Big Brother Hotshots was in Lagos recently. Fielding questions from journalists, the model, who came second place in the reality show, said the love he is getting from fans is enough victory. VICTOR AKANDE was there.
WHAT is this rumour about Warri billionaire, Ayiri Emami, compensating you with USD350, 000?
(Laughs) You just went straight to the money aspect. I do not have an answer for that yet, but very soon, there will be a confirmation.
Now that the show is over, what is the next thing for you?
Television has always been my home. I will love to stay around and still be able to entertain people, Africa and the world. I would say I am an element of entertainment and I want to give the best of my ability to the world. I will like to thank every Nigerian that has supported me and shown me love, I really appreciate it.
While in the house, you were so concerned about the disparity among housemates from different regions of Africa, does this confirm your fears now, especially after losing the USD 300,000 prize money?
While in the house, I kept telling people not to watch the show on sentiments. I wanted a situation where people wouldn’t vote based on East, West or Southern Africa but on the basis of our individual personality. However, since I came out of the house, I haven’t met one person who told me that I am not the winner. There is a Yoruba adage that says, when you go out looking for money, and you find honour on your way, you will need to go back home because even if you get the money, honour is what you will use it to buy. Since I got back home, every Nigerian has been proud of me, so I am a winner.
If you had another chance to go back to the Big Brother house, what would you do differently?
When I got into the house, the song I wanted to perform first at the opening was Dbanj’s song, On top of the word. One of my favourite punch lines from the song was, “looking back now, there’s no regret, looking forward, there’s no regret, I wouldn’t change a thing, even if I could, I’m stronger now…” There is nothing I would have changed. I did my best, I was myself, maybe sometimes I made a few mistakes, and there is no perfect person in this world. I made my mistake, but I fixed them and made sure I did not repeat them. So, I would say there is nothing to change about what I did in the house.
What is your relationship with supermodel, Tamar?
If you go on Facebook, Instagram or ask any model in South Africa, they will tell you that, as professional models from Nigeria, we see ourselves as siblings, and we have been relating like that for years. I have been in South Africa since 2008; Tamar cooks for us and treats all of us like brothers and sisters.
So I will say Tamar is like my sister and she has proved it over the years, same way that I have proved to be her brother. I have a woman who has a son for me and she is in my house right now, and she has no problem with my intimacy with Tamar. And right now, I have decided to make her my manager because she is someone who can handle someone like me.
Your passion for Yoruba language and culture was obvious while in the house; have you thought of acting in the Yoruba film industry?
I am a Yoruba man, I can speak it anywhere and anytime. I am very comfortable speaking my dialect. One of the movie producers that I have been looking forward to work with, is Kunle Afolayan and I fell in love with him when he played the role of Aresejabata in Saworoide. He speaks Yoruba in the movie and today, he is one of the respected men in the film industry. I want to act movies; in fact I would even act Hausa if they teach me. But you could also see me act English movies with Desmond Elliot, Ramsey Nouah and many others, so I am not limited to speaking Yoruba alone.
You are based in South Africa; do you intend to return to Nigeria any time soon?
Nigeria is my home. Last year, I came to Nigeria for four months; I’m trying to relocate to Nigeria. I came back home to hustle and asked what I could do to establish me, but it did not work out. But I’m back home now, and I have a brand and I can beat my chest that my people are ready to welcome me, and for your information, I already have somewhere in Lekki.
When Idris was declared winner of Big Brother Hotshots, what was the first thing that went through your mind?
You see, when we were all in school, we all knew who the best students in the class were, and when someone who was the best student scored 70, we would say, haba, this person should score like 90. Idris himself knows I won, but he only got the money. When we got on stage and were shown the highlights, I saw myself and I was laughing. In fact, everybody was entertained. The way people cheered when they heard my name assured me that I was winning already, so when Idris’s name was mentioned, I was shocked. For a while, I thought IK, the show’s host, was joking with me.
Like Uti made a return trip to the house back then, would you mind to go back to the house if the opportunity arises?
Did Uti come as far as I came the first time? No, he didn’t. I don’t think Uti got as much love as I got the first time either. But I wouldn’t want to go back in there. When I was doing an interview in South Africa, one of the officials tried to mention it, but I said no, I don’t have three months to sacrifice anymore.
Do you think you were cheated?
Well, yes. But I don’t feel it anymore because people are not allowing me to feel it. It got to a point that the show became regional. Getting on the internet, a lady had commented on a Facebook page commending Lilian’s picture, but she added that she would never vote for West Africa again, so it wasn’t against Nigeria, it was against West Africa. While in the house, Ella of Uganda and Franklin from Rwanda used to plead to East Africa to vote for them, and they would tell me to forget the game, since West Africa has won before, so I started fighting against it.
I started campaigning during my diary sessions with Big Brother, telling people to vote for facts and not region. I said this at a press conference in South Africa that when we are abroad, we say we are all Africans, but when we are in Africa, we start to say we are East Africans or Southern Africans; we should all be united. It means people are not loyal to the game, they were just voting for their citizens and not for who entertained them the most.
Who cheated you, the Southern Africans, Eastern Africans who voted based on sentiments, or the organisers of the show.
I have expressed it the best way I could, but as I said, I am not sitting on that anymore. My future is bright.
You became very emotional towards the end of the show, complaining and drinking. What was the reason for this?
Did you see that they urinated in my bottle of drink? How can I be happy with people like that? I told Big Brother that the people I was with in the house during the last few days were the actual people against me.
At a point, I just kept to myself and sat down in one corner because I did not want to disgrace my own country. Big Brother used to say that if you are not in the house, you cannot understand how it feels. People were seeing psychologists every week, but I didn’t see any. Big Brother asked me if the last week in the house could jeopardise my winning the mega prize and that’s why you are watching yourself. And I said to him, I was sorry if I was being selfish by protecting my image and chances of winning, but that I wanted him to know that my best interest was entertaining Africa all the time, so I would go out there and play with everybody, but if they frustrate me or try to start a fight, I would want Africa to agree with me that it wasn’t my fault. Immediately I got out of the house, I implored them to let us all come together, joke together and be united.
Did Uti influence your interest in the show?
No, he didn’t. I came to Nigeria for the audition because I wanted to take part in the show. Actually, the first Big Brother audition I went for was in 2009 and I have been trying my luck since then.
