There’s still plenty of gameplay left in the Shine Ya Eye season, and – as the Housemate’s numbers begin to whittle down – it’ll get easier to summarise the goings-on in the Big Brother House. Right now, though, the full complement of 22 people is providing too many storylines that don’t quite resolve into a neat, tidy plot.
The relationship situation, for example – or “shipsuation”, as it has inevitably come to be known – is too amorphous to properly describe. Nothing displays this better than yesterday’s spat between Liquorose and Emmanuel, when the former told the latter this his mixed signals were not appreciated, and that his wishy-washy attitude toward a more serious relationship between them was frustrating her. If the actual Housemates involved don’t know what’s going on, then we – as the viewing audience – can hardly be blamed for struggling to follow along, too.
Then there is the situation between Maria and Pere, or “Peria”, as some people insist on calling it. To us, it seemed like there was some basis for a romantic relationship, there – they were both Wildcards, and they certainly seemed to be warming up to each other, but Pere’s recent conversations with others about how he’s no longer really interested seems to have put the kibosh on that (at least, for now). This kind of back-and-forth has been the order of the day. Last night, Pere and Maria were back to flirting the best way they know how: exchanging snarky comments and insults dipped in honey, while the rest of the House looked on in amusement.
Perhaps we shouldn’t be too surprised, here – 22 people crammed into a House is a situation that doesn’t exactly lend itself to clarity: there’s just too much going on, and the Housemates have a lot to think about when it comes to the mechanics of the Game. BB Tokens need to be won, Abeg Naira need to be hoarded, there’s the weekly Head of House challenge and the constant flurry of Tasks from Biggie that need to be completed. Perhaps, in the midst of all of that, the Housemates simply don’t have the bandwidth needed to process things as complicated as a full view, public relationship.
What is a little surprising, though, is how well everyone is still getting along. It’s just a few days after the first round of Nominations, and those were notable because only Maria and Pere participated, making the five Nominees fairly sure of who was to blame for their predicament. This is doubly true of Yousef, who wasn't even among those Nominated until Boma used his Head of House Veto to put him on the block in Jaypaul’s place.
And yet, despite this, the Housemates seem to be happy enough in each other’s company. Whitemoney is already on the record as saying that it’s not personal, and even Yousef seems to be getting through the day without being mopey (at least, not more than usual).
Maybe it’s because none of the Nominated Housemates feel like they’ve invested too much into the game, only twelve days in. Maybe this is just a coping mechanism, and things are actually closer to breaking point than we realise. There's certainly some opportunity for everything to go off the rails – the Saturday Night Party is known for its hefty consumption of alcohol and the correspondingly-loosened tongues.
Or maybe – just maybe – this is all going to get very real once the first Evictions take place, and the stakes start to become obvious to everyone involved. There’s only one way to find out.
Beatrice, Niyi, Whitemoney, Yerins and Yousef have been Nominated for Eviction this Sunday You can VOTE to Save your favourite Housemate via the Africa Magic website HERE and the Africa Magic mobile site by selecting contestants of your choice and entering your number of votes and click VOTE. Voting via these platforms is limited to 100 votes per user. You can also download the MyGOtv and MyDStv Apps for additional Votes. Votes are free and Votes are allocated based on your subscription packages. The voting window closes by 9pm on Thursday, August 5, 2021.