She was forever calm even in situations that required a strong reaction, I got a chance to find out where Barbz hides the Xanax tablets, uhdikt turned Jet-Li watcher status, her opinion on frumpy (Prezzo), Yellow tube (Goldie) and her hff’s (house-friends forever) Maneta and Zainab.
Segs: Why did you go on the show? What appealed to you about the big brother show?
Barbz: Well, I wanted to do the show because aahhh… it was two reasons; to reach out into Africa and obviously giving them the best of who Babalwa is, for those that did not know who I was and those that had preconceived ideas and perceptions about me, especially in and around South Africa. So those were the main reason And also eventually winning the money. Who doesn’t want the money? (
giggles)
Segs: Did you watch previous shows?
Barbz: Yah, I watched the show, I was a BBA uhdikt. I was an uhdikt.
Segs: So you were a Jet Li actually?
Barbz: No, funny I watched the show but never thought of being on the show. It never crossed my mind that I would ever want to be in the big brother house. Until, when the opportunity came, I was like “
oh ok, me? Really? Ok. sure” (
giggles)
When I was watching, that’s the difference, I was just a fan.
Segs: Did you discuss with anyone and was there anyone opposed to you doing this?
Barbz: yes, I discussed obviously with my family – and they were very supportive and happy that I was gonna go for it. And also my boyfriend. He had a few questions, of course, as you would have about nudity and all those things. I had to assure him that there would be none of that (
giggles) well, obviously those that do pay for shower hour (
laughs) they would pay 10 dollars to see a sneak peak of my boobies, not bad after all (
giggles) But he was ok, especially after I explained to him why I needed to do it, you know, for my personal brand.
Segs: What shocked you during the first week?
Barbz: It was the fact that, you know, I came from a place where I have always been misjudged, I walked into a house with total strangers and the same thing happened. So, for people that did not even know me or know of me, I just walked in and I got judged from head to toe. Conversations were started about talk shows and about me; that was surprising and very hard.
Segs: You loved sitting in a particular couch in the house, why did that particular couch appeal to you?
Barbz: (
laughs) ok, 2 reasons – cause of the way it was designed, it was just so sexy. I like nice things. Another thing is I could sit in a position where I could look at myself in the mirror, and I could see the rearview and what was happening behind me. (
laughs) It was like I am looking at myself but I can see all you crazy people looking at me – all the cameras.
Segs: How do you keep that tush so nice and toned when you are so lazy? (
Question from Tshd21)
Barbz: aaah (
shocked) I am lazy? Well, tell her that I guess it’s my xhosa genes, that’s all I can say (
giggles) I don’t know anything else, because if it is not that, then it’s a bit of gym.
Segs: How had you cooked the pap that made us suffer DKB pap hatred comments and Mampi fights?
Barbz: I did not cook that pap. It was Mampi’s pap. (
laughs) It was the Zambian pap, he hated that pap. Because in Zambia, they don’t put any seasoning in the pap, it’s just water and the maize meal so obviously it tastes like nothing. (
giggles) they kept fighting over and over about it. Mine, Prezzo hated it but he was the only one. Obviously we understand why, he hated me so anything that comes from me, obviously he is gonna hate. (
giggles)
Segs: How did you manage to get so many feet massages from the men – DKB and Keitta, specifically? Any tips to women in Africa
Barbz: (
laughs) you just have to use your sweetest voice and say “my feet are so sore” (
with a sweet drawl) (
giggles) But they claimed they come from a background where they please women. So it was not difficult for me to get my feet massaged.
Segs: That worked for you, will it work for us? (
laughs)
Barbz: (
laughs) of course, it will work for anyone
Segs: Where did you stash the Xanax?
Barbz: (
laughs) Xanax …? (
laughs) Xanax? I was born with it. You see that’s another reason I went into the house, you see? Cause people thought that when I am out in the clubs and dancing, going all crazy they would think that I was drunk. And temperamental but nothing. No-one can get me to a boiling point, nothing.
Segs: So there is no medication? A secret compartment with some serious calming meds? (
giggles)
Barbz: No, nothing. Zero.
Segs: What do you really think Prezzo’s issues are with you?
Barbz: Ok, so I just think that the guy… I don’t know hey… cause… I don’t know… I have been trying to figure it out. First, I thought ok, it’s because of the pictures I had brought into the house. Pictures I had taken with famous people like maybe that’s really annoying him. Because when he was fighting with me, he said “and oh, I have taken pictures with Jay-Z and whoever and I did not bring them” and I thought “
who told you not to bring those pictures, did I pack your bag?”
Another issue, I really think that the guy has the hots for me, somehow because when we got into the house, he was showering me with compliments “
oh, you are so beautiful”, even while we were still sitting on the stage. He was saying he is glad, he will get to know me better in the house. And then when he heard me talking about my relationship, that I have a serious boyfriend, he knew that I was off-limits. I can’t figure it out, though.
Segs: When Prezzo attacked you, what was going thru your mind?
Barbz: Which time? The first, second or third time?
Segs: The first time?
Barbz: The first time about the soap story?
Segs: No, the long one. The 30 minute attack…
Barbz: Oh, I… I… what was going thru my mind was “
is this guy crazy?” or is he trying climb up this ladder to get to my head.He was never gonna get to my head. I just thought, let me let him vent and get it all out, you know, even let him vomit everything he has against me so maybe he will stop. Cause if I stop him I will interrupt him, and he will continue the next day or in a couple of days, so I needed him to let it all out. Even when DKB tried to stop it, I wanted him to empty himself of the hate and anger he has against me but obviously (
shrugs) it did not happen. (
phone rings)
Segs: Earlier this week you spoke about having them babies as soon as you get out the house, was it the plan or do you feel any pressure to now conform to Prezzo’s abuse – get married, push some babies and catch up with his under 30 year olds?
Barbz: Oh, he wishes I would look up to him. Nah… But even before I went into the house, I had told myself that this year I really want to focus on being a mother, somehow, it had nothing to do with who I do it with or how I do it, it was just about me. I am just broody. I can never be pressured, that’s my personality, I never succumb to any pressure. So, yah, it was in the plans.
Segs: How did you manage to stay friendly with humpty dumpty after everything he had done and said to you? (
question from jaonney)
Barbz: That’s how you deal with clowns; you make them believe that you are cool, and that they have won the fight or the war and you just continue looking stupid, cause they feel happy, they gloat. I knew in my heart that whilst in the house I need to maintain that civil and peaceful, you know, aura and environment for us.
Segs: Did you have doubt that Goldie would save Prezzo?
Barbz: No, Goldie is too weak, she is too weak. I knew for a fact that she had replaced him. I could not figure out who she had replaced with – Roki or Lady May. I didn’t know who it was, but I knew she would save him. She would never have survived the house without Prezzo.
Segs: Why did you not shake Goldie to sanity?
Barbz: (
giggles) But that’s the thing with me, I don’t have that side in me. I don’t have that thing of knocking sense into people; if you are useless, you are useless, only God can deal with you (
giggles) I mean, if you did not collect the brains when everyone else was in line collecting some, sorry, I am not the one to fix it for you.. (
shrugs)
During interview with boots (She says she gained weight but I saw no excess weight on her small frame)
Segs: What do you think makes her so gullible when it comes to Prezzo?
Barbz: Goldie looks like someone that is kinda empty to me. She lacks self-love. She is still looking for herself. That’s why I know that even after they come out the house, if the guy keeps ill-treating her, she will keep trying to.. eish.. yah (
phone rings)
Segs: Your last minutes in the house, what did you think of Goldie’s begging for forgiveness?
Barbz: oh shame, I felt sorry. I felt so sorry, I almost cried cause it was so bad for her, for an international channel to get her begging on her knees for mercy. And her status, apparently in Nigeria for someone to do that, go in their knees, bending and begging, it is the lowest form of.. eish, I felt really really bad for her.
Segs: Do you think she is strong enough for the game?
Barbz: You know what, I am not even sure that was the real Goldie – that it was part of her strategy. Who knows? I don’t believe that a girl from Nigeria can behave like that, cause Nigerians are strong people and their women are even stronger than the guys are.. so, that’s why I am confused when it comes to her, because I am not sure this is her strategy or whether it’s really her… hai, we’ll see..
She even whispered to me that she will make it up to me on the outside when she gave me a hug goodbye. So I am thinking that she is telling herself that she is going to win, and she will give me a gift or something (
giggles) cause I am thinking what could she do for me outside the house that she could not do for me whilst in the house.
Segs: When Zainab came into the house, she became a catalyst for your relationship with Maneta, how come prior to Zainab’s entry you were staying far from Maneta?
Barbz: Maneta, when she came into the house, she was hanging out with a girl that I found really annoying. She was worse than Prezzo, to me. And that’s why I told myself that if I have long conversations with Mampi, I would lose my mind. So I spoke to her when she spoke to me, and when Maneta came in they started those loud noises, laughs and the handshakes with their legs wide open, I thought I would stay away from them. When Mampi left, the house was calmer and created a sober environment for Maneta and we became close But if Mampi was still there, I was gonna stay away. (
phone rings)
Segs: Do you think Zainab pushed her limits or she was a misunderstood, fun and playful person?
Barbz: She was really misunderstood, she was really misunderstood. I know girls like her, and her painful background as well, it’s a way to deal with things and an outlet. I don’t think she deserved the slaps.
Segs: Why did you not say anything during the “Amber Rose’ argument between Zainab and DKB, your facial expressions were clear you found what DKB said unbelievable but you never spoke up?
Barbz: I did. I did. I voiced it out and he beat the table and said “Barbs, I am not talking to you” I did say that there is no way he can say that a woman that has slept with 2 men a disgrace, and undignified. That is not a good statement to make, and that does not make any woman undignified. Whether she slept with 10 or even 15 that does not make her undignified, Of course I said something.
Segs: You broke down when Zainab left, was that the hardest time for you or is there another moment you feel was harder?
Barbz: yes, that time and when I had to speak about my mom’s health and stuff. That were the hardest times.
Segs: Did it surprise you when you heard Zainab nominated you on the very day she left?
Barbz: Oh gosh, I am still surprised even now, I am not over it. I..
Segs: She apologized. She put up a video apologizing.
Barbz: To who? I had already closed the door on her. Now my heart is sore, oh wow. I will forgive her.
Segs: Maneta and Roki fight, you strongly believe that both were wrong, in hindsight – do you think there was more that could have been done by the housemates on that day to avoid the fight?
Barbz: No, I don’t think so because speaking from 2 different aspects of the fight – Maneta’s side - we constantly spoke about how she loves talking and verbal fighting, not physical, she repeated that to me over and over again. I always told her that fighting will not resolve anything blah blah blah… just walk away.
Segs: Share the Xanax, Barbz, share the Xanax…
Barbz: (
laughs) So, you know, I would have never believed that she did what she did after I had repeatedly told her how getting physical does not resolve anything and her saying she doesn’t like fighting and she runs away from fights…
there was no way that the housemates could detect that today, we need to keep them apart, even Roki told the guys that he’ll treat Maneta like a “stupid, foolish lil girl” and he will never beat up a girl. I was shocked that even after the fight had calmed down, he still went to put water on her and her bed.
So there was nothing we could have done, we were all under the influence of the information that from both sides they had told us that they will never get violent.
Segs: Are you aware that you gave out your number to Africa when Maneta left? (
Question from carino)
Barbz: eh, my dear.. (
shakes her head) yah, my sister told me that she got millions of calls whilst I was in the house. I also got a call last night, after my eviction from a woman that was sobbing so bad like someone had beat her up, and even now my phone keeps ringing with these unknown numbers. So yah, my number is out there for Africa, so maybe I did something good (
giggles)
Segz: Who were you going to nominate with Prezzo, if you had stayed?
Barbz: Goldie Golds, obviously send both of them to Africa to decide. Because I would have felt backstabbed especially from someone that approached me and made promises, out of nowhere, I never asked her to make promises. She just came and promised me.
Segs: If you had to save between Keitta, Goldie and Keegan; who would you have saved and why?
Barbz: Keegan, of course. I love Keegan, he is a very smart boy. Apart from the fact that he is South African. We have seen 2 different Keegans, apparently. He was loco in Downville and in Upville, he has conformed to the standards of Upville.
Segs: How do you feel about Keitta now knowing he is part of the reason you are out, he nominated you. (
question from sweetopia)
Barbz: I don’t like him now. I don’t like people that are like that because I am not like that. I keep my word and for the fact that he kept on warning me; he would tell me what the people that did not like me are saying and I must be careful and then he goes back to the same people that he is warning me against to gossip about me.
I actually told him a couple of hours before eviction time that “what if someone goes out, and discover that people were not being honest. That the people you trusted the most, are the ones that nominated you. That would be the most shocking” and he nodded his head (
giggles) and that is what is now bugging me, right now. I would have felt so guilty and you know like looked away.
Segs: Who are you certain you will keep in touch with?
Barbz: I am going to try to get hold of Maneta, when I get my full freedom. When I leave this place. I will probably look for Zainab now since I know she apologized.
Segs: Who are you happy to never see or talk to again?
Barbz: Prezzo. When he comes out the house I will not even waste a breath or a handshake with him.
Segs: Where to from here? What are future plans for Barbz?
Barbz: Get back to work, harder than I was, pursue new things in my life that I wanted to do prior to big brother. Model search for South Africa, similar to what Tyra was doing, I really wanna pursue that and get that off the ground.
Segs: Where is your hair salon?
Barbz: It’s in morningside, Rivonia road, in Sandton. It’s Barbiliscious Hair Spa
Segs: How many tatoos do you have?
Barbz: 2, on my wrist and lower back.
Segs: You really changed a lot of people’s opinions about you, you are a lady and quiet an inspiration to many. Thank you, Babalwa.
Whether she created a new opinion about her or changed your opinion about her, she stayed true to herself and her calmness about life will be something I admire about her. I hope she achieves everything she hopes, dreams and goes for..