by Thinus Ferreira
Marike Bouwer, a 35-year old owner of a hardware shop in Fresnaye, Cape Town became the winner of the first season of the crowded house reality series Trap! Dis My Huis! on VIA (DStv 147) on Wednesday night after she managed to solve a series of difficult number puzzles thereby winning the remaining R617 600 prize money.
The reality series produced by Afrokaans is an Afrikaans reality version of the international TV format from Fremantle, Get the f*ck out of my house that has 100 people camera-followed inside a 4-bedroom house.
The South African version had 50 people crammed into a small, 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom house - sleeping on the floor and trading clothes for cigarettes - as they got whittled down to eventually just two contestants in the season finale after which Marike won.
Filmed over 18 days, the contestants had to share everything from toilet paper to bedding and whatever food they managed to buy from inside the small show house for a complex development in Kuilsriver.
Co-presented by Amalia Uys and Zoë Brown, the double garage was used for the master control room while a group of cameramen as well as built-in house cameras spied on the contestants and their whispers and alliances.
In the first season finale Rinnie, Blue, Hein, Rhona, Judith, Christo, Marli, Marike and Johan were left, with Rinnie who left first taking the bait of R50 000 to leave, after which Christo, Rhona and Hein fell out, followed by Johan in two more games.
Next to leave were Judith and Blue in the next game, followed by Johan who got eliminated in another ball and sticks game.
In the final game Marli struggled with maths when Marike took the lead in a quiz about their time in the house and various number puzzles that needed to be solved in order to get the combinations to open various locked boxes.
"I've made extremely great friends in the house. I took big chances and I'm so appreciative that I'm able to walk away at the end with this big amount of money," said Marike. I'm going to do good things with it."
"When I opened that door and I walked out with my box and I saw all of my close friends from inside the house it was overwhelming," she said. "It was champagne bottles, it was the large cheque. It was the most amazing feeling that I can't explain to anybody. I feel very proud that I've walked out as the champion."
While no second season of Trap! Dis My Huis! has been announced, the reality series lifted VIA's viewership during the Wednesday night timeslot on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV service, making it very likely to return for another season.
ALSO READ: TV REVIEW. 2020's most jarring, jaw-dropping and crowded new reality show on VIA is selfish ... and must-watch insane.
ALSO READ: VIA commissions format reality show, Trap! Dis My Huis!, with 50 people living in a 2-bedroom house until there's one left, from Afrokaans.
