by Thinus Ferreira
Temi Nkem has been voted the winner of season 11 of MultiChoice Nigeria's toxic Big Brother Naija reality show on DStv on Sunday night in one of the most chaotic and scandal-filled seasons yet.
After 10 weeks and 24 housemates, Temi Nkem has become the fifth female winner of the reality series when she got 25.87% of the final vote, with Aikou (23.68%) and Sheba (9.8%) placed second and third.
While the latest season was once again broadcast across Africa outside of Nigeria in various other African countries on DStv, MultiChoice once again gave it scant PR and publicity attention outside the West African nation, although it was carried and shown as a 24-hour TV channel on DStv.
Temi Nkem wins N90 million (R1.12 million) as a cash prize and a SUV.
Atinuke Babatunde, executive head of content and channels for West Africa at MultiChoice Nigeria, says in a prepared quote, "Season 11 has been another exciting chapter for Big Brother Naija".
"We saw
24 housemates bring their personalities, perspectives, and individual approaches to the game, and we are pleased to have shared their journey with our viewers. We thank everyone who watched, voted, and joined the conversation throughout the season, as well
as our sponsors and partners for their continued support."
According to Canal+'s MultiChoice, Big Brother Naija "continues to remain one of the continent's most watched
reality television franchises".
It's therefore odd that MultiChoice is not putting any actual media liaison and proper PR behind Big Brother Naija outside of Nigeria to get coverage of the show during its run.
While effort goes into adding Big Brother Naija as a TV channel to DStv's line-up across sub-Saharan Africa, there's literally nothing else in basic PR supporting it.
The most prominent scandals and controversies that shook this season of Big Brother Naija during the 70-day run included the "black shirt" fight and Keivo's disqualification.
The biggest shock of the season came just days before the grand finale at the MultiChoice Nigeria Ilupeju Studio complex in Lagos, where the housemates are cloistered in a camera-filled "house".
A missing black long-sleeved shirt sparked a massive row between Tram and Keivo. Tram accused Keivo of wearing his clothes, which Keivo aggressively denied, stating he refused to be "tagged a thief on national television".
The argument quickly escalated into a violent physical altercation, forcing the producers, Red Pepper Nigeria, to disqualify Keivo as the aggressor on day 65 and kick him out of the Nigerian version of the Banijay Group's reality format show.
Keivo wasn't the only one ejected this season. Weeks before Keivo's exit, housemate Nami was officially thrown out of the house after receiving a series of strikes for "repeated disobedience" toward Big Brother's explicit instructions and house rules.
A massive online and house-wide outrage erupted following a toxic argument between Normy and Bells.
The clash became incredibly ugly and personal when insults shifted to severe body-shaming and parents. The ultimate breaking point occurred when Normy told Bells, "Your mother should have died giving birth to you," sparking fierce backlash on social media from viewers demanding sanctions for the offensive remarks.
The season's eventual winner, Temi Nkem, was a magnet for drama right from week one.
After volunteering to read out Big Brother's weekly guidelines, she grew intensely frustrated when other housemates kept asking for clarification due to her UK accent.
She lashed out, snapping, "Are you children that you don't understand English?" which divided the house. Later, a heated "Truth or Dare" game following a Saturday night party turned sour when she fiercely clashed with housemates after refusing a dare to perform a highly sexual act.
