by Thinus Ferreira
Big Brother Mzansi will return in January 2024 to Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) with Lawrence Maleka back as the host but without any "shower hour" shown, although new game mechanics are being added into the reality competition format show.
Big Brother S'ya Mosha will be the 4th season of the rebooted version of the localised South African version and the 10th South African version overall.
The upcoming season of the Banijay reality competition format show is once again produced by Red Pepper Productions.
Besides specific programming strands of Big Brother S'ya Mosha on Mzansi Magic, a 24-hour Big Brother pop-up channel will once again run concurrently on MultiChoice's DStv from 21 January 2024 on channel 198.
Big Brother S'ya Mosha will be available to DStv Premium, DStv Compact Plus and Dstv Compact subscribers.
"Big Brother S'ya Mosha is a
disruption of the norm," says Shirley Adonisi, M-Net director of local entertainment channels, in a statement about the upcoming season.
"It means setting a new bar, being the most memorable season
for disrupting and breaking away from what is expected. Viewers are familiar
with what Big Brother is all about and they know what to expect every season,
or so they think. With this season, we are messing with those perceptions and
blowing their expectations out of the water."
According to Shirley Adonisi, M-Net and Red Pepper Productions are getting rid of the so-called "shower hour" following backlash from DStv subscribers who said they're not interested in seeing this type of nudity.
Natalie Bleksley, Big Brother Mzansi executive producer, says in a statement that DStv subscribers "may think you know how Big Brother operates, but the 4th season has more than just a few twists and turns that
will keep viewers guessing".
"The format is also
being enhanced by adding new game mechanics - nothing is predictable, and
Biggie is here to shake things up, building on the elements that viewers love like the Saturday Night Parties and Friday Night
Games."
It's not known what else was said last week at the Big Brother Mzansi media event that took place at MultiChoice City in Randburg since MultiChoice and M-Net, as well as their PR agency Duma Collective, didn't alert or communicate with all relevant media beforehand that there would be a media engagement.
MultiChoice, M-Net and Duma Collective also failed to provide any recording or transcript of what was said at the Big Brother Mzansi media event by M-Net executives like Shirley Adonisi, to journalists who were not there and who didn't know about it.
According to MultiChoice, the 4th season on DStv will see a collection of new housemates described as "a dynamic mix of fun, crazy and bold characters from diverse
backgrounds" who will "do their best to outwit each other to win the hearts of the audience and ultimately the
grand prize".
