Big Brother Africa takes a break

It is five months to the end of the year and anxiety is growing among fans of reality TV programme Big Brother Africa.

The question at hand is whether the popular TV show will air this year and to them it is rather getting late.

With the remaining months the show’s producers Endemol are yet to announce the audition dates, let alone call for entries.

But maybe they won’t have to wait any longer; this year’s edition of the popular reality TV show has been cancelled.

According to a report released by M-Net this week, the continental edition of the show has been put on hold as the producers continue to re-evaluate the show.

The announcement allays fears that had been doing rounds in the social media that the show had been cancelled due to financial constraints.

Instead the producers will continue working on the regional versions such as Big Brother Angola and Big Brother Mzansi.

“Big Brother continues to captivate audiences in each market in which it is produced, and the move to regionalise the show allows producers to re-evaluate the direction of the show,” read the statement.

This will be the second time that the show which is modelled around UK’s Big Brother takes a break.

After the first edition which was won by Zambian contestant Cherish Makubale, the show took what was a rather a very long hiatus only to return in 2007.

The first season of Big Brother Africa, featuring 12 housemates from 12 different African countries, premiered to audiences in 42 African countries on May 25, 2003, and ended on September 7.

The show lasted for 106 days making it the longest of all the nine editions that have gone on air so far.

It was the first time in the world that the internationally famous program was created using participants of different nationalities from one continent. Hosted by Mark Pilgrim, the show is credited to have cast celebrities such as Mwisho Mwapamba, Gaetano and Abby Platjes to the limelight.

Big Brother Africa and Big Brother Mzansi, both produced for M-Net channels in South Africa by Endemol has in the last one year been mired in controversy.

Last year’s edition christened ‘Hotshots’ was postponed for a month after a hungry inferno razed the house causing damages that are yet to be made public.

Though thorough investigations were taken Endemol is yet to disclose the cause of the fire which forced the producers to look for another location to run the show within Johannesburg.

Changes in certain regulations saw chosen contestants dumped from the show before the housemates from certain countries even entered the house.

When the show first hit the air waves it was something that Africa had never experienced before.

The nudity, drunken nights, sex, romance, fights, political debates and personality clashes were a producers’ dream.

Basically the innocence of the airwaves had never before experienced such a cocktail of exhibitionists, entertainers and personalities to an audience of over 30 million viewers.

Last year during South Africa’s Big Brother Mzansi season on the Mzansi Magic and Big Brother channels, a male contestant was removed after hitting a woman in the show, which M-Net called “an isolated incident”.

In April this year, the latest Big Brother Mzansi season was again in controversy over alleged rape when a male contestant bragged how he allegedly had sex with a drunk and passed out female contestant who was horrified about what she was told happened.

Endemol removed both of them from the reality show after the alleged sexual misconduct which lead to criticism and calls for M-Net to end the misogynistic and voyeuristic reality show “which encourage and rewards” violence and sexual misconduct.