M-Net’s
Big Brother reality-TV franchise in Africa continues to be mired in unsafe
house conditions with another housemate who got expelled abruptly on Friday
after she got involved in a physical fight with another contestant named Mercy in Big
Brother Naija.
Despite
multiple statements by MultiChoice and M-Net during previous seasons of Big
Brother Africa and Big Brother Naija to do more to safeguard the safety of
contestants in the camera house, in the latest incident of the 4th season of
Big Brother Naija, Anita
Natacha Akide, known as Tacha, was disqualified and booted from the Lagos-based
camera-house in Nigeria.
It happened after she started arguing with Mercy – an incident that turned physical with Tacha going as far as pulling Mercy by the hair.
It happened after she started arguing with Mercy – an incident that turned physical with Tacha going as far as pulling Mercy by the hair.
The ugly altercation – the
latest in a string of shocking behaviour that has plagued previous seasons of
the M-Net version of the show done across Africa – started when a scroll sent
into the house was taken by Mercy who took her time to read it, which lead to
Tascha calling her “a stupid girl”.
The verbal fighting kept escalating and turned physical, while other housemates pretended not to see Tacha’s physical assault on Mercy.
The verbal fighting kept escalating and turned physical, while other housemates pretended not to see Tacha’s physical assault on Mercy.
A producer announced to the
contestants in the Diary Room that “The Big Brother Naija rulebook clearly
states in Article 18 sub-section 1 that, other types of violence, including
provocation, goading, bullying, and victimisation may be punished by Big
Brother in any way Big Brother chooses” after which Tacha was expelled.
It leaves 8 housemates in the show done according to the Endemol Shine sold format, and Mercy with two warnings for provocation.
It leaves 8 housemates in the show done according to the Endemol Shine sold format, and Mercy with two warnings for provocation.
In a statement MultiChoice
once again said that “MultiChoice and the show producers are committed to
ensuring the safety and well-being of all housemates in the Big Brother house
at all times. We view incidents such as occurred with Tacha and Mercy in a very
serious light and will continue to take necessary action against housemates who
break the strict rules of Big Brother.”
The Big Brother Naija
finale will take place on 9 October and is shown on MultiChoice’s DStv
satellite pay-TV service in Nigeria as well as across sub-Saharan Africa,
including South Africa.
It’s the first time in 13
years since 2006 that a season of Big Brother Naija is produced from inside
Nigeria, having used South African production facilities previously.
