Big Brother Titans is a novel idea, unlike any iteration of Big Brother ever created in Africa. The reality show combines Nigerians and South Africans in the same house. Although based in South Africa, MultiChoice has worked hard to balance the ‘Nigerianness’ and ‘Southie-ness’ viewers get to enjoy on the show.
Beyond watching 24 young and vibrant people from different backgrounds live their lives in the house, there are opportunities to learn from the show. This story presents all the opportunities for cultural lessons on BBTitans.
1. Africans can learn about the different types of foods South Africans and Nigerians like to enjoy. Based on conversations with evicted housemates the meals from both countries are very different. According to Jaypee and Lukay, Nigerians love very spicy foods and South Africans love dairy products in almost every meal they cook. The housemates are already learning ways to create fusion meals between both cultures, and we can bet they’ll be delicious.
2. Every viewer gets a chance to learn about the deeper cultural music from both countries. Away from the ‘funkified’ sounds of “Amapiano” and “Afrobeats”, the tasks housemates have tackled have allowed them to go into their roots to find cultural sounds and chants.
3. Any African watching gets a chance to learn double the slang from both sets of housemates. While the Nigerians say things like ‘come on now!’, the South Africans say, ‘Haibo!’ At the end of this show, we are all going to be walking about, spewing bilingual slang.
4. The housemates and viewers alike are having a crash course in traditional Nigerian and South African attires. First, it was Lawrence Maleka rocking that gorgeous black and white wrapper under his tux and Ebuka looking great in his agbada. The housemates have also been rocking traditional fits like Kanaga’s ‘Babariga’ and Lukay’s headdress. In fact, the newly evicted South African housemate noted that he was looking forward to visiting Nigeria and would take the chance to get a couple of tailored natives.
5. Fans have also been getting the best lessons in how to execute both Amapiano and Afrobeats dances. By now, more Nigerians that have enjoyed the last three parties should already know how to dance ’ Kwaito’, ‘Patsula’, ‘Gwara-gwara’, and the like. South Africans, on the other hand, should have gotten a hang of Nigerian dances like ‘Soapy’, ‘happy feet’, ‘legwork’, ‘Buga’ and the rest.
The unification of the housemates also teaches fans that Africans can be united, that we can ride on our differences and similarities and be a greater continent. To learn more cultural lessons from the South African and Nigerian housemates, keep watching the explosive debut season every day on the 24/7 channel – DStv ch. 198 and GOtv ch. 29. Fans can also catch the show anywhere they are across Sub-saharan Africa, the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland on Showmax.