Will the show take place after all the controversies? This is biggest question most fans are asking after it was announced that the 9th season will not launch this Sunday (September 7) as scheduled due to a fire incident at the BBA House in Johannesburg, South Africa.
But this is not the first bizarre thing about this year’s reality show.
First, the BBA show was supposed to kick off in May like it has always been with all the other editions. But this didn’t come to pass. The show’s launch was instead pushed to September, the month in which it always comes to an end.
The show organisers said they had extended the show because of the 2014 FIFA World Cup which was to begin shortly. But then, why not in late July or August since world cup started on June 12 and ended on July 13?
But this was just the beginning of the controversies about this year’s show. It were later to be followed by the replacement of Ghanaian contestants, who had gone through the audition process with those who were already living in South Africa causing public uproar in the West African country.
This was blamed delayed visa processing for the contestants. Organisers denied earlier claims that the candidates had been disqualified due to Ebola scare.
“The contestants from Ghana could not make it because of delays in their visa applications. Therefore we had to get Ghanaians within South Africa to audition,” said a publicist.
On Monday (with just five days to the show) M-Net’s AfricaMagic and series producers Endemol SA announced that Sierra Leone and new entrants, Rwanda will no longer form part of the countries participating in this year’s edition.
“Unfortunately, due to schedules and logistical constraints there was insufficient time to follow the necessary procedures in order to process the required travel documentation which has recently become a more complex procedure,” they said.
This reduced the participating countries from 14 to 12. Rwanda had replaced Angola which now has its own version (Big Brother Angola).
But as fans were still nursing all these disappointments, Tuesday came and a fire gutted the Big Brother house at Sasani Studios.
In a press statement, M-Net and Endemol SA announced that this year’s show dubbed 'Big Brother Hotshots' has been put on hold.
“At this stage M-Net and Endemol are urgently looking for an alternative Big Brother house in which to film the production, however as this production has highly technical infrastructure, alternative camera and edit requirements are not immediately available”.
“Every effort will be made to find a solution as quickly as possible to ensure that Africa’s biggest reality TV show will continue”.
This leaves fans wondering whether the show will be held this year or not.
But according to reliable sources, organisers are in emergency meetings, looking at what to do, options for a new house and some of the housemates are already in South Africa while others are in transit, to ensure that the show takes place. Minus the Rwanda & Sierra Leone housemates.
Stay tuned for the latest developments.
tangaz
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