If there’s one thing about the Botswana idiotz (housemates), Eve and Edith, they are honest. They tell you what is on their minds without putting sweetener around it. I met up with the tall sisters (maybe it was the shoes but they were taller than I thought they were) on Monday morning and they dished their opinions and thoughts.
Segs: Edith, you swore you were not going back to work so are you going back to work?
Edith: (laughs) I really have to think hard about it. I am not sure. It is something that I really have to think about. I really don’t want to do something now that does not make me happy.
the Sisters
Segs: And you, Eve?
Eve: I am not working at the moment. Just before getting into the house I was just trying to sort out my life, trying to move to South Africa and start looking for a job. I finished varsity and graduated 2 years ago.
Segs: Which field are you looking in?
Eve: I am looking in fashion, marketing, media, anything exciting and that will bring out Eve. Nothing boring.. I won’t do that.
Segs: Tell us about the difference between being in the house and getting evicted. What thoughts went through your head when you were told it’s over?
Edith: There is a change when you go into the house and you meet these people that don’t know you – some jealous, some good people. Most of the time you get people trying to tell you what type of a person you are, and going into the house – then you meet people that don’t know who you REALLY are, so you get to be who really are without judgments and prejudice. So, yah, getting into the house was…. Somehow…. rehab for me. (Laughs) ok, Alcohol… (Rolls eyes)
Eve: (Laughs) Don’t leave the alcohol out
Segs: I am getting there…
(All laugh)
Edith: This experience just opened my eyes that you only live once and it’s pointless for me to do things that make me happy so I really wanna consider going back to work really hard. I will have to sit down with the parents (glances at Eve)
Segs: Why the parents?
Edith: because sometimes people can make sense to you. Maybe I am just living in a fantasy world. Who knows?
Segs: There was a night that you got really intoxicated and aired all your family secrets; did this impact your relationship with your sister?
Edith: Was that aired?
Segs: yes
Edith: It did not affect my relationship. Eve and my family understand me. They know that when I go out, there are no limits – it’s not a surprise to them. My mom did say to me – you know, Edith, please go and behave. When you drink and don’t go hitting other people’s kids - she did not say this to Eve. It happened, it happened. I apologized in the diary session. When I do drink, trust me – I don’t remember anything in the morning.
Segs: It was not an act?
Eve: No, it was not an act.
Segs: Did this experience change the type of person you were before going into the house?
Edith: Eve will tell you the type of person I was before getting into the house. The type of person that I am – I am sure you saw the banging of pots, arguments and mayhem in the house. Outside, I would not have taken such things without lashing out and telling you nonsense right there in your face. But I chose to count up to 20, in my mind and tell myself to calm down. I learnt to be lenient with people. That’s not who I am. I am quick to fight. I have learnt to be very very very calm.
Segs: and you, Eve? Any significant changes?
Eve: oh yes, definitely. I found myself doing a lot of stupid things that I would never do. Walking upstairs, downstairs, singing ikokoroso the whole day… Sometimes I would look at myself and say “What are you doing?” I definitely became somebody else. The first 2 days, I tried to maintain my calm and try to be chilled and laid-back, you know. And I was like “ahhhh” these boys are acting like animals, the girls are acting like animals – join them! So I joined them and did crazy things that I would never do.
Segs: You guys always wanted to go home? Why did you guys carry on with this “we wanna go home, we wanna go home” thing?
Edith: It was not part of the game. We got to a point where the experience what we expected. We got to a stage where the experience was not what we expected; there were good days and bad days. Bad days we would not get what we wanted.
Eve: (Laughs) Did we really carry on?
Segs: First week it was about sleep. Eve was the sleeping beauty.
Eve: (laughs) I love my sleep.
Segs: (laughs) We got it. We got the sleeping beauty lessons. You took us through lessons on how to get beautiful, just by sleeping. We get it.
Eve: (laughs) I love my sleep
Segs: Edith threatened to pack you off when she got no cigarettes. But it was also another “we wanna go home” situation
Edith: (Laughs)
Eve: (laughs) I remember. Personally, the alarm – where does big brother get that alarm from? – on the first day, the lights are like stadium lights. We are not in prison. I told Edith that I can’t do this. I started crying. This is crazy. I even told biggie that I wanna go home. This is for crazy people. I got used to it with time. I don’t know what was going on with Edith because everytime she got intoxicated she would wake me up and say “hey, let’s go home, I am not getting what I want, we are going home. I am getting upset.” I would just laugh it off and when she wakes up I would ask her if she really wants to go, she would not remember. We did not exaggerate it – I feel I got out of the house at the right time. I would have lost it, if I stayed another week.
Segs: Edith, how attached are you to the cigarettes?
Edith: When I get bored. You know, we did not have a lot of tasks and it’s a lot of talking. And sometimes you run out of things to say, and you start asking yourself – what do I say? What next? How do I act it out? It’s (sighs).. it was just an experience, good and bad.
Segs: what were your expectations before going into the house?
Edith: You know, from the past shows that I watched – here and there. I thought it was fun and ok, but when you live it, it is a completely different scenario.
Segs: How?
Edith: It feels like a luxurious prison. You have food and everything that you want. The freedom with the outside world – when you are used to interacting with people, talking on the phone, having access to the internet, then a complete shutdown. Being shut out from the world, you have to be emotionally strong. I am happy that my sister and I did the whole experience together. At least, we did not quit halfway. I am happy that we did not quit.
Segs: Did it enrich the experience that you did this with someone that you are very close to?
Edith: I think for me, it enriched my relationship with my sister. I just thought if I have to… I wanted Eve to go to Upville. It was an experience, that’s all I can say.
Segs: Eve, Tell us about Seydou
Eve: Oh my gaad! (Laughs) I thought he was a cool kid when we initially got into the house. What I liked about him was that he likes himself, and that kind of thing. We used to compare the clothes brands that we had and when it got to the point where he was telling Keegan and the boys that I was his “mission in the house, he wants to be with me, they must help him and he shouldn’t have chosen Talia.” I was like this boy is making it sound like he had to choose between Talia and myself, I had not given him an option to even put me in that equation. Because he is NOT my type. He is not my cup of tea, I am sorry. It started irritating me that he actually thought I liked him in that way. I always tried to annoy him or rub it in his face every morning to get him to know that “it is not what you are thinking”. The housemates just got it twisted that I like him because of what he was the telling them, I don’t know what he was telling them.
Segs: You guys split the house into 2 groups?
Edith: Seydou, for his part, had a relationship in the house and for some reason Talia thought Eve was after Seydou… which was completely wrong. Eve had NO interest in Seydou. Esperanca wanted to go home to her family. People do not understand. Apparently he would go around the house, this is hearsay, and say that Esparanca is from a middle class background and they are not on the same class back home. I think she did a good thing by going back.
Segs: Did you push her to go?
Edith: Maybe to a certain extent and maybe I was the wrong person to advise her, I am not married and do not have a man in my life, I do not have a child. I don’t know how difficult it is but for me I told her to go back.
Eve: It was crazy. Esperanca was my friend. Initially she would tell me that Seydou says he thinks I am hot and I played along, but when it got to the point where he thought I really like him like that it got annoying. Maybe I took it too personal.
Segs: Did it cause the clash between Tamara, Talia and yourself?
Eve: I liked Talia when we first got into the house. It did in a way cause a rift between us in a way because she, obviously as a woman, would have thought I want Seydou. She told me after he left that she was the one telling the others that Eve does not like Seydou in that way. The others kept pushing that I do. I told her that I thought ‘in your little brain” – yes, I told her “your little brain” – “this lil gal in her little brain is thinking that I could want this little boy” and we laughed about it and it was a joke. It was so unnecessary and a miscommunication because someone was divulging certain information that she wasn’t supposed to. Whether it’s true or not, it would mean we would have to go thru videos to see.
Segs: Was Seydou really into Talia or into the mirrors?
Eve: I hung out with the boys a lot, and all the other guys thought Seydou is just using Talia. He doesn’t really like her. My opinion, I don’t think he liked her. They were cute, there was chemistry – I don’t know if it was all played out on Seydou’s part but Talia fell in love quickly. Seydou bragged, in the first days, about he was in the house to get some. So that is why I don’t think he was serious based on the statements when we first got in the house.
Segs: Do you think Seydou’s threats were something to be taken seriously? He threatened Zainab, then Keegan and then Esperanca.
Edith: At the end of the day, Seydou is just one of those typical young boys when you give them a toy, and take the toy away, they end up crying to tell their mother. He’s young, mentally – you don’t say such things and threaten. If he had sat down with Esperanca to understand her stresses and the root of the problem, he would have better understood her state of mind. But he wanted us to talk to Esperanca so that he could save himself. That was selfish.
Segs: Edith, Tell us about Keegan – Is he prejudiced or a racist?
Edith: I honestly don’t think, he is either prejudiced or racist. I think Keegan speaks his mind. You do not get a lot of people like that. And who do that. You get people that hide their true feelings but Keegan is the type of person that will tell you the truth. He is allowed to say that he has never dated a black girl. And there’s nothing wrong with that. For me, Keegan is a downright honest person and direct. Those are the type of people that I associate myself with. If he has a preference of dating a certain type of girl, no-one should beat him down about it.
Segs: and the fight with Junia?
Edith: I don’t think all coloured people are or should be Afrikaans. Keegan is entitled to fight for his foundation and his own racial beliefs. I don’t think he’s racist. I think he is the best BBA housemate you can get – is Keegan, because he is gonna tell you exactly what he thinks of you. Those are the people you need in your life.
Segs: and Lee?
Edith: Lee is calm and just a bit too reserved. Keegan has kind of hinted that Lee can get really mad – well, the combination of both of them, one calm and one crazy, they balance each other. Imagine if there were two Keegans in the house (giggles) - you can just imagine what the house would be like, there would be no house or cameras, they would be torn down.
Segs: You spent a lot of time with the guys, which of the girls were you close to?
Edith: I was just talking to the girls because I had to because they were talking to me. I would not start a conversation.
Segs: Who would you have gotten “close” to, if you had stayed in the house?
Eve: In Downville
Segs: yes, in Downville, we will get to Roki just now.
Eve: (laughs) I personally was not attracted to any of the guys. They were all like brothers.
Segs: If you had been upgraded to upville?
Eve: I don’t know, we are talking something totally different. I don’t know the environment and mood and it wouldn’t be wise to speculate.
Segs: But seeing Roki again? (raised eyebrow) Zainab again?
Eve: (laughs) I am trying to understand this whole Roki thing. I’ve been reading about Roki and me. And I want to know where it is coming from. There is no me and Roki. I would have been very excited to see Zainab. Oh my gaad! Zainab is crazy.
Segs: Ok. Well, tell us about you and Roki. (this is aquestion from poshspice)
Eve: (laughs) I don’t know anything about me and Roki, I wish I knew about me and Roki. There is no me and Roki. But I wanna know about me and Roki. It is very interesting.
Segs: Have you met before the show? Is there a history?
Eve: There is no history. It was a brief phone call – a brief conversation over the phone. We spoke for like 10 minutes on the phone and that was it.
Segs: Long before the show or …?
Edith: Was it in Amsterdam?
Eve: yes, before the show. Just now. We spoke for like ten minutes. And that was it. I came out of the house and I see that Roki and I are trending. I am like “wow”.
Segs: Well, Roki was waiting for you.
Eve: What? Are you serious?
Segs: Even last night he had messages for you.
Eve: Are you being serious? Biggie should have taken me to upville, maan!
Segs: So please, Eve, tell us what is going on between you and Roki?
Eve: (laughs) There is no me and Roki.
Segs: Edith, you kept insisting you would not do anything in the house, and then just before you left, you had a thing with Malonza.
Edith: What happened? What did we do?
Segs: You guys kissed and did things. You tell us
Eve: (laughs) I thought you said we had sex. I was about to say huh… But No. I get bored easily and Malonza was just my toyboy. I needed to be held when I slept and needed somebody to kiss. He was the nearest thing.
Segs: Janneta was making moves on him and you just stepped in.
Edith: Malonza was always like “please. I am scared of this gal, please keep her away from me, I don’t want to interact with her.she is a vulture”. I think for her it was good intentions. But she is not even my competition. If I really wanted Malonza, it would have been more; I would have taken it to another level. I kept withdrawing; there would be times I would stay away. When I get really lonely and I need to cuddle and kiss, he was there. That was as far as it goes because for me, age really does matter. Cradle snatching is not for me…
Segs: This is a question from Nonwe. Tell us about your hair.Is it heavy? what type of weave is it and any tips on upkeep?
Eve: The hair is Brazilian and there is a lady in Joburg that supplies me with the hair, it is not heavy. It is very light. I would only advise that if your hair is of a certain texture, to be very careful. The micro-bonding might cause problems. I had long thick hair before I started putting weave. I lost that thickness, lost a lot of hair and now my own hair is damaged because of the micro-bonding.
Segs: You still have a hairline.
Eve: (laughs) Thank gaad, my hairline is not receding. But my hair has lost so much volume. Has no volume whatsoever.
Segs: are you negative? (This is a question from poshspice)
Eve: I am not a negative person, People are quick to say such but until you go through this experience, live in it, be in that environment every day, you have to be in the situation and then you understand. You can crack in that house. You can actually meltdown. You can wanna tap out. I feel like I blended and got familiar with my surroundings. I chilled but there were 2 incidents that made me wanna tap out of the game.
Segs: What is your opinion on the Br-otto machine?
Eve: I think it’s fair. I have not really watched big brother so from what I have seen, I think it’s fair to an extent and it is not fair to some extent. 90% fair, if all the gals hated me I would be up every week for nominations, 10% because it’s fate, destiny – so you cannot control that.
Segs: Do you think it’s rigged?
Eve: That’s what I said to Biggie, but he said it’s audited.
Segs: Who would you have nominated if had been given a chance?
Edith: I would have nominated Tamara because she was using Janetta to get and pass information.
Eve: This is hard. Never Wati, never Nafe, Never Kyle,.. It’s a tough one. If I was forced to, I would have chosen Tamara. There’s just something about her. We called her Queen of Sheba. Little princess was bringing stuff to me, she messed us all up. Little Princess would come and say “Ah, Eve…Tamara says…” She messed us all up.
Segs: Who is little Princess?
Eve: Janneta.
Segs: why did you believe her? Why did you not go to the person and speak to them? She played the 2 groups and no-one ever approached another person to get the real story.
Eve: Because she is so tiny. She is tiny and innocent. I don’t know why, but she messed us all up.
Edith: I did call her a couple of times and told her that she must stop doing what she was doing, like I said in my diary session, never trust the go-in-between, the middle man is the most dangerous. She used to convey information to and from, until I called and told her that “from now on, if you pass any information to my sister, it is not going to be nice in the house. You must stop it now” Because if the source has a problem with Eve, they will come tell her directly, you don’t have to get the messages to her. There was a time when I said dynamite comes in small packages, and she confronted me and I told her she will get burned. Exactly what I told her is what is happening now.
Segs: But both of you would not have nominated her?
Eve: No. She is so tiny. But maybe I should have nominated her. But eish…
Edith: Like I said "Dynamite comes in small packages"
Segs: What is your opinion on the following housemates – Junia and Jesica?
Eve: Do you want my honest answer? If they do go far in the game then Africa is sleeping. They are irritating. I am sorry. That other girl’s voice used to make me cringe, every time. Especially when I am sleeping.
The shoes that made these sisters look ssssoooooo TALL!
After a good hour and half interview that was meant to be 20 minutes, we could have gone on for hours chatting - I loved the girls even more, in person and I wish them all the best.