adminMelissa Mpofu Showbiz Editor
WHEN M-Net Africa regional director, Wangi Mba-Uzoukwu, said Big Brother Africa (BBA) viewers and housemates would this year be in for many surprises, exciting innovations and heart-stopping twists, no one thought the surprises would involve the House being ravaged by fire and the reality show relocating to another country.
Producers of the BBA reality show are seriously considering moving the show from South Africa to another location in a different country after the initial House at the Sasani Studios in Johannesburg was gutted by a massive fire on Tuesday. An investigation into the cause of the fire is not yet complete, but filming equipment and furniture worth millions was damaged.
According to Caroline Creasy — MultiChoice Africa head of corporate affairs – this year’s BBA edition would most likely be moved from South Africa as building a new House was not an option.
“The BBA show has highly technical demands. All our 56 cameras were destroyed. The house has special glass for crews to shoot behind scenes, so we can’t simply build a new house.
“We have to look elsewhere at other Big Brother Houses around the world to complete the production,” she was quoted saying.
Creasy said BBA producers and team members had already located two houses and were still negotiating. However, an assessment carried out by this newspaper narrowed the alternatives down to two countries, Nigeria and Angola, which both hosted Big Brother shows, as the potential candidates.
Angola becomes a potential host as their debut Big Brother show which ran from May 25 to July 25 this year was produced by BBA producers — Endemol and they are in Southern Africa. Nigeria on the other hand have been tipped to host this year’s BBA because of their ascending film industry background and their capacity to host BBA. They hosted a successful Big Brother Nigeria some years ago and have over the years dominated the BBA show, producing many winners.
Creasy, however, highlighted that relocating the production to another country would not be a walk in the park as it would involve booking flights and arranging new visas for BBA crew and housemates.
“This is a major challenge for us, but we have a great team and are prepared for major logistical projects.
“Big Brother Africa is the only continental show of its kind and has a special creative element and therefore the core crew will remain on the project. Depending on what resources are available in the country will depend on which other technical crew we will retain on the production,” Creasy said.
The BBA housemates who are this year known as the “Hotshots” are already in South Africa and staying at a hotel in Johannesburg.
“They (housemates) are obviously very disappointed about the delay in the show’s start but they are on standby for when shooting begins in the new location.”
An official date has not been set for the BBA launch but according to the grapevine it will kick off on September 21, as producers do not want the show to spill into 2015.
Like previous editions of the show, this year’s edition will see housemates competing for $300,000 for a maximum of 91 days. Last year’s edition was won by Namibia’s Dillish Mathews.
Online Reporter