When we left the Big Brother house last year (
Last year's Big Brother House "test drive") the media mates made a pact that we would all return to the house this year for another dose of “test driving” the house. So, as the team player that I am, I dropped everything and availed myself again this year.
So, there I was arriving late at the Mnet Offices, thinking I’d see last year’s faces and my peeps wouldn’t mind my African time… Yoh, the bomb was dropped soon enough. I get there and I didn’t recognize the faces. The first thought that came to mind was “OMGeee Deathby by being Miss team player.”
My inquisitive self just flopped and like a lost sheep I opted for the front seat with the driver. I just couldn’t risk those awkward moments of silence. lol. Thank heavens I spotted my friend Kiki in the same kombi, that brought some form of relief.
We arrived at the briefing session outside Biggies house and to my amazement, (or was it after taking off my sunglasses) I knew quite a number of the media mates… The joy that filled my heart. Yoooh
This years' media mates included Kuli Roberts from Headline, Bulelwa Dayimani from Drum magazine; Kiki Marli from Just Curious; Munya Vomo from The Star, Tonight; Diana Kekana from New Age; Andile Ndlovu from Times; Keith Mafu from ICU; Delisile Mncwabe from Isolezwe; Una Cupido from Die Son; Clayton Morar, Freelance Entertainment Journalist; Mpume Sibiya from Ilanga News; Molife Kumona from Zalebs; Mandla Mothau from ShowbizOne; Khetha Mkhize from Yeahbo, Michelle Esau from MNet, Inkaba actors Matshepo Maleme and Kope Makgoe and myself Pruluv, representing TVSA.
We were scheduled to test-drive Downville, at that moment we had no knowledge of Upville. Initially we were meant to be paired according to the colour of our underwear, so all the people wearing red underwear stood up and before long we all realized it wasn’t gonna work. We ended up using the raffle method and my BFF was Mpume, who’s actually my friend and a former media mate.
On arrival in the house I noticed that it was the same house as last years’. Ok, ok, I was expecting a new house, afterall it’s a new season right? It was pretty funny hearing all the “interior designers” describing the house as retro and correcting each other that it was Manhattan and the debate went on and on.
This year the house was filled with very strong characters. Everyone was talking at the same time half our stay in the house. It was bloody loud, but the lady from the Cape, Una took the trophy and even won the title of Loudest Housemate. Then everyone wanted their way, forgetting that Michelle was Head of House.
For our first task, we were supposed to count the number of balls in a cyclinder without moving them or touching them. Yo, yo, yo. Everyone was voicing how it should be done, then we counted and recounted and recounted again. Then guess what? We got the number wrong by a long shot and failed our task.
As the strong characters we were, we didn’t wait for Biggie to give us the next task, we created one. We divided ourselves into groups of 3 or 4 and had to put up a musical ensemble (minus the instruments). It was like the early 1990s in Primary School when we were big on school concerts. We practiced hard to perfect our singing skills. Lol. It was hilarious seeing how people took it seriously and were trying hard to take the Ushers and Liras of this world out of work. Our group, consisting of Khetha, Kiki, Deli and myself won but... the many self appointed MCees disputed that and we spent a good 30 minutes fighting over the result.
During this
school concert of ours, Biggie was calling the pairs into the diary room asking about our experience in the house and our relationships with the other housemates.
Task 2 was the most depressing for me. We had to sit in total silence for a good 14 minutes. Each person stood up as soon as they believed the 14 minutes had elapsed. As someone who’s very talkative, it was pure torture and I found out that I stood up way after the 14 minutes had elapsed. Hahaha… Keith won the task and became Head of House after he stood up exactly after 14 minutes.
During our supper/dinner someone suggested we all eat together... Perfect idea except that there was no looong dining room table to cater for all of us. We made an effort by sitting close to each other in the dining area. After supper, we spent most of the evening chatting away with many people already seeing double courtesy of the fridge load of booze that Biggie provided.
Going into the shower was a mission since the water was cold 95% of the time and those inquisitive eyes never stopped trying to get a glimpse of people’s birthday suits.
There was a lot of craziness in the house with a number of scandals unfolding after midnight and people swapping beds. Wooo... I'm gonna be killed for this because what happens in Biggies house stays there, but I didn't mention names, right.
It felt like we slept for a couple of hours (all our cellphones and watches were locked away before we got into the house) before were woken up by very LOUD music. No matter how much we tried to ignore the music, it became louder and louder. This continued until some Zumba instructor walked in with her happy chappy voice telling us it was time for our morning exercise. It took a while for everyone to make it to the garden, then she killed us with her hectic Zumba moves... so early in the morning nogal. Tjo. Kuli bowed out gracefully from the exercise routine barely after spending a minute in the garden. Lol. However, I must admit it was a very enjoyable 30 minutes of exercise, especially for us who have lost our directions to the gym. The guys were very ecstatic and followed the instructor's moves gracefully, as they watched her bend over and do miracles and wonders with her body.
Kuli won the ultimate prize, a laptop for the most engaging housemate and Matshepo got a watch for being sexy. I believe Biggie needed to award one more Media mate and that was Mandla. He was the craziest person in the house. From his health consciousness, he had his chicken burger with strawberry yoghurt mixed with Worcester Sauce because it contained less calories. *Rolls Eyes* Then he became a human TV acting out whatever TV program we named. Hahaha... This year the food was scarce and we ended up eating our breakfast at night. So, the majority of us left the house with empty stomachs.
Overall we had an insanely, awesome time. Thank you Biggie and Mnet for everything and a special thanks to Mnet's rockstar, Michelle.
@PruMathebula