With Big Brother, Titans, the latest season of the African version of the Banijay reality TV format, starting tonight on DStv with contestants from South Africa and Nigeria, here are 11 things to know about and watch out for this season.
Culture clash?
There are always fights between the housemates in every season, as has been the case with Big Brother Naija and Big Brother Mzansi, and Big Brother Titans will definitely be no different.
The contestants stepping into the Big Brother Titans house will be a composition of people from two very different African countries: South Africa and Nigeria, coming from two very different cultures. Like a Game of Thrones reality show, those in the “North” will battle those in the “South”… but also each other on their own and by teaming up through alliances and romances.
Nomsa Philiso, MultiChoice CEO for general entertainment, says Big Brother Titans “promises an abundance of South African and Nigerian swag, banter, romance, and everything in-between”.
How to watch it?
Big Brother Titans will premiere with a 2-hour, 15-minute show on Sunday, 15 January at 20:00, simulcast on M-Net’s Mzansi Magic (DStv 161), Mzansi Wethu (DStv 163), Africa Magic Urban (DStv 153) and Africa Magic Family (DStv 154) channels, with M-Net and MultiChoice also running a Big Brother Titans pop-up channel on channel 198 for the duration of the season.
Live shows will also be on Mzansi Magic on Sunday nights.
The show will run for 12 weeks until April, with the winner getting $100 000 (R1.68 million) after the 72 days. DStv subscribers will be voting to keep their favourite housemates in the show. The winner will be determined by votes from across Africa.
The Giants Are Coming.#BBTitans #GiantsAreComing pic.twitter.com/euRnUFN21S
— DStv Nigeria (@DStvNg) January 12, 2023
Sunday night evictions
DStv subscribers will see the live eviction of a housemate(s) on Sunday nights. During the week, Biggie will announce who is up for eviction and on Sunday nights, the co-hosts will announce who will be walking the proverbial plank out of the camera-filled studio dorm.
Dedicated watch blocks
Besides the Sunday night evictions, Big Brother Titans will also retain the other dedicated programming events. Busola Tejumola, MultiChoice Nigeria’s head of content, says DStv subscribers will also be “enjoying special Biggie diary sessions, Head of House games, Friday night parties and tasks”.
Co-hosts
Speaking of co-hosts, Big Brother Titans will have two co-hosts. Lawrence Maleka is the host from South Africa, and Ebuka Obi-Uchendu is the host of Big Brother Naija. Look out to see how they work together and what the banter and on-screen presenter chemistry is like between them.
Your wait is over! The #BBTitans housemates will be making their way into the house tonight! Tune in at 20:00 CAT / 19:00 WAT for the start of this season’s trouble. pic.twitter.com/WePygHqiCS
— Big Brother Titans (@BigBroAfrica) January 15, 2023
No shower hour
Clamping down on the degree of nudity this season, there will be no “shower hour”. MultiChoice says DStv subscribers didn’t like the shower hour. It doesn’t mean the show will be without titillation and salacious content – Big Brother Titans does carry an age restriction of R18, and DStv decoders with a parental lock will block the show where this age restriction is set.
Showmax
MultiChoice’s video streaming service Showmax will also carry Big Brother Titans. There’s no word yet on what additional content Showmax will carry, which it did in previous seasons of Big Brother Naija, but according to MultiChoice, the reality show will stream and be accessible on Showmax in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and 45 countries across sub-Saharan Africa.
Biggie’s house
The housemates will all be in Johannesburg, similar to Big Brother Mzansi, with the producers making use of filming facilities in South Africa and with generators to prevent the show from cutting out due to load shedding. The interior look and design of the house have been kept a secret, with no inside images released this season beforehand to the media as a “sneak peek”.
During its illustrious history, Big Brother has broken borders – and #BBTitans, starting Sunday at 19:00 WAT on @GOtvNg and 20:00 CAT on @DStv, is the latest in line. 🇿🇦🇳🇬
— Big Brother Titans (@BigBroAfrica) January 13, 2023
How many housemates?
How many housemates will enter the house? We don’t know. Don’t be fooled by the number of people entering the house on Sunday night. Besides the initial number of South Africans and Nigerians entering Big Brother Titans on Sunday, the show is set to add some more after a few days, similar to previous seasons – and unbeknown to the existing housemates, some of them could be “fake housemates” who get to stay if they’re not caught out, or instructed to be “spies”, or to infiltrate existing relationships.
Disqualification
It will be interesting to see whether Big Brother Titans contestants complete the season without any disqualifications because of broken rules. Virtually every Big Brother Naija and Big Brother Mzansi season have seen contestants getting disqualified or contestants choosing to leave for “personal reasons”. In the last Big Brother Mzansi season in 2022, a contestant left after just 48 hours. In the latest Big Brother Naija season in 2022, a contestant was disqualified over wig-ripping.
Titans title
Why Big Brother Titans? It refers to South Africa and Nigeria being the two biggest economies on the African continent. John Ugbe, MultiChoice Nigeria CEO, says Big Brother Titans is a special edition” of the reality series: “A fusion of two TV phenomena – Big Brother Naija and Big Brother Mzansi. We are bringing housemates from two giant nations – Nigeria and South Africa, under one roof to give African entertainment audiences intense drama like never before”.
Crazy about Africa? We defs are, obvs 😍 Wanna be featured on our Twitter? Then send us your photos 📷 of a favourite local destination with the hashtags below and the place name and we might make them GIANT for you! #GiantsAreComing #BBTitans pic.twitter.com/GIXRdNBDNi
— Big Brother Titans (@BigBroAfrica) December 23, 2022
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