by Thinus Ferreira
Big Brother Mzansi, bannered as Big Brother: Umlilo - started on MultiChoice's DStv on Sunday evening with Red Pepper Pictures which made another redress of the camera-house-filled studio space in Johannesburg.
Big Brother Mzansi: Umlilo executive produced by Natalie Bleksley is the fifth season under the Big Brother Mzansi moniker and the 11th season overall of Big Brother South Africa done by MultiChoice and M-Net in the country according to the Banijay format.
Big Brother Mzansi: Umlilo will run until 23 March with a 24-hour pop-up channel on DStv channel 198, as well as highlight programmes and a weekly roundup and eviction show on Mzansi Magic (DStv 161).
M-Net PR this past Friday gave Johannesburg media, social media influencers, as well as actors Sana Mchunu and Ishmael Songo, access to the Big Brother Mzansi: Umlilo studio house for a day but didn't bother with any publicity initiative for media elsewhere in the country.
For the press conference last month for Big Brother: Umlilo at MultiChoice City in Randburg, MultiChoice and M-Net PR, together with Playmakers, likewise couldn't bother to tell media outside of Johannesburg about it, with several Johannesburg-based press who were also kept out of the basic communication loop.
Before Sunday night's walk-in of the new crop of "housemates" on Mzansi Magic, M-Net PR had nothing for media in terms of virtual roundtable interviews with producers or M-Net execs to preview the upcoming season or field questions.
Now DStv subscribers and media scribes are sitting back and watching for the inevitable Big Brother Mzansi: Umlilo controversy that will likely follow this season (as in all previous seasons) in the Lottostar and Robertson Spices sponsored show, while housemates are plied with copious amounts of liquor, gamble and wager, and become involved in squabbling and fights on TV.
Here is a look at the interior design of the Big Brother Mzansi: Umlilo studio house:
