By Esther Kainebi-Daniel

As expected, the ongoing Big Brother Naija (BBNaija) Season 8, All Stars first pool party on Thursday night was an extravaganza. Indeed a night to remember as the All Stars housemates brought their star power to the bash as they came ready. They danced, enjoyed dips in the pool, and had fun-filled moments.

The DJ was on point as he came prepared with back-to-back Nigerian hits, making the housemates gyrate all night, bumping and grinding, whilst each All Star made their presence known with their unique individual dance moves and exceptional swimwear.

While all housemates brought the right vibes, Adekunle, Cross, Ilebaye, and Uriel set out to have the time of their lives. Head of House (HoH) Adekunle lived up to what he said on the live show premiere stage as he unleashed his ‘bad boy’ decks. He was up and active all through the party, serving suave boy vibes whilst he danced with the ladies, from Angel to Tolanibaj to Cee-C and Uriel, who the fans think has a crush on him as they got cosy in the pool.
Recall that Uriel had confessed to Biggie during her first diary session to have feelings for someone in the house. When pressed, the 35-year-old business woman, healthy cook, content creator, fitness and lifestyle coach refused to give the person’s name, pointing out that she is much older than him. Could Adekunle be the apple of her eyes that she was referred to?

Also, during the diary session she told Biggie that she will be the first housemate in the show’s history to refuse eviction as 25 Ninjas will be required to carry her out, stressing that she will cause a commotion if evicted on Sunday.
“I pray not to leave; I pray it is not me because you will need 25 ninjas to carry me out. I will not go; I will be the first housemate in Big Brother Naija history to reject eviction. Not my portion,” she said.
The reality TV star made history with fellow housemate Pere Egbi (Pere) as the first housemates to share intimacy (passionate kiss) in the ongoing season 8 show dubbed The Biggieverse. The duo spent some quality time together on Wednesday, and the eagle eye cameras in the house captured the moment they were passionately kissing.

Uriel had told anyone who cares that beyond winning the N120 million grand prize, she is in Biggie’s house in search of a husband, and she sure did mean it as she shone in a gorgeous black two-piece, and spent the night dancing with the eligible men. Who will be the lucky gent she’ll choose to be in a ship with? Time will tell.

Like Adekunle, Cross Takes A Cue
Like Adekunle, another ‘bad boy’ in the building might be Ikechukwu Sunday Okonkwo known on the show as Cross. The sleek dude was on his toes all night, and behind the nearest derriere he could find.

While Ilebaye had professed her feelings for Whitemoney, winner of season 6 edition, the ‘Lockdown’; she didn’t let that stop her from catching a vibe! She danced and flirted with Cross while her crush, Whitemoney, chose to sit and gist before serving minimalistic dance moves with the latest married housemate, Frodd.

The housemates ended the night with some games initiated by the HoH, Adekunle, and Neo. With prompts from Neoenergy, the housemates gathered in the dining area to unwind and play games – truth or dare – after an epic pool party.

The Task, The GbasGbos
Meanwhile, barely 72 hours in Biggie’s luxurious mansion, the expected drama cum fight started as some housemates who could no longer hold their emotions went overdrive, went at each other’s throats, as the pressure of the task presentation became too much to handle.
The camel’s eye was broken after the housemates had their first task announced to them on Tuesday morning during their meeting. Cynthia Nwadiora (Cee-C) and Alexandra Amuchechukwu Asogwa (Alex) both from Season 3 Double Wahala rekindled their rivalry as they clashed during a bitter quarrel on Wednesday, July 26.

Alex accused Cee-C and Uriel of sabotage following the duo not participating well in the task preparation. This didn’t sit well with Cee-C as she engaged Alex in a shouting match in a very loud manner. They threw caution to the wind, ridiculed, insulted and called each other names during the bout.

Despite other housemates’ attempts to calm them down the duo continued to shout at each other at the top of their voices, throwing incentives up and down. Tired of the situation, other housemates allowed them to have a field day while they watched.

Adekunle had selected Alex as the creative leader for the task, with the responsibility to lead the team and coordinate the efforts to produce an entertaining performance. During the preparations, which require the housemates to put up a reflective play, Pere, who also possesses production experience, found himself on the sidelines and couldn’t help but joke about the situation with Uriel.

Uriel, perhaps curious about Pere’s absence from the forefront, asked him why he wasn’t leading the creative charge alongside Alex. He expressed his bewilderment at the lack of a script and Alex’s approach of doing the write-ups and then just acting them out. He stated that he had initially approached Adekunle with a recommendation which he declined because the HoH had a set plan he wanted to stick to.

Alex’s plan has incorporated some suggestions from other housemates, especially after the morning’s clash with Cee-C. The new plan grouped housemates together, and their first group task was to brainstorm the ads they would add to the play.

Neo, Tolanibanj, and Pere were put in one group, representing the toothpaste brand, Close-up, and in less than three minutes they came up with their plan. Meanwhile, Venita and Mercy Eke need to create a skincare advert for the play using Hawaii soap.

The preparations had a lot of singing, drumming, acting, and casual frustrations like Frodd shouting at his fellow housemates that they were sleeping too much and must sit closer to where the rehearsals were taking place. HoH Adekunle took a cat nap with his head in his arms, while Cross tucked himself away on the far right side of the couch and went to sleep.

Preparation for the task started on a rocky note with Mercy expressing her dissatisfaction with Adekunle’s leadership. She had expected him to introduce himself to the housemates and chat through his plan on Monday, but Adekunle wanted it to happen on Tuesday. This caused a momentary rift between the two, who soon reconciled. Mercy’s frustrations stemmed from her experience of witnessing housemates lose their first wager, which would result in some real challenges for the housemates.

The Cook-a-thon And Looming Austerity

Some housemates have expressed their concerns about the quantity of food that is being prepared in the house particularly in the evening. Kiddwaya stated that he witnessed the housemates cooking four different meals at one time. Uriel on her part said she witnessed housemates cooking six different meals.

Biggie’s secret cameras caught Uriel and Pere laughing at how crucial the wager task win would be as housemates are rushing through groceries quickly. She feels if well managed, the groceries could last them a few weeks, but Pere does not agree, especially because of how food is being consumed in the house.

As the pressure of the task presentation became too much to handle, Pere called for the housemates to get ready for rehearsals, but Venita had some choice words for him because, according to her, she was not in the habit of missing her lines or her cues.

Venita felt she had been committed to rehearsals, even when her fellow housemates didn’t seem to be putting in the work, and being in the kitchen to prepare pounded yam didn’t mean she needed to be ordered around.

“I will burst your chest like balloons; I will burn you to the ground, I am not your mate,” she yelled as her fellow housemates looked on.

Pere was quickly whisked away to the bedroom by Alex and Cross, who didn’t want to see the situation escalate. The next morning, Venita found Pere and apologised for her outburst. “You and I are not too far off in methods of wahala and we’re not supposed to have that. We’re supposed to be people. For my part, I apologise,” she said as they cuddled in front of the bedroom door.

Pere accepted her apologies and also apologised for any offence caused. The duo then hugged and each went their separate ways.

Guardians Of The Coins, Mavericks Wins First Arena Games

Team Guardians of the coins and Team Mavericks emerged winners of this season’s first arena games. Biggie had tasked the housemates with a challenge called the “Great Debate”. The housemates were grouped into five teams consisting of four housemates each of the same gender only. The challenge was to go head to head in an informative debate against each other.

After four intense rounds, Team Guardian of the coins comprising Adekunle, Cross, Neo, Pere, and Soma, and team Mavericks made up of Alex, Doyin, Ilebaye, Mercy, Uriel, and Venita, were crowned as the winners.

All participating teams had two topic options to choose from, as well as the mandatory requirements of unique team names, selected team captains, and the creation of dedicated team emblems. Housemates who did not take part in the debate presided as judges and moderators for their relevant debating teams.

As a collective, credit has to be given to the housemates for delivering stellar arguments that were well thought out topped off by eye-catching outfits that made sure that they looked the part during the performances.

The women looked radiant as ever in attires that resembled their boss-lady nature, while the men achieved a winning look by wearing dapper suits.

Another Round Of GbasGbos

The first wager of the season seems to be bringing a lot of drama. Just when it seemed like all had been settled, another battle soon ensued, this time between Doyin, Ilebaye, and Uriel, also because of the wager task. The housemates had been woken up by HoH Adekunle for another set of rehearsals and were no doubt feeling groggy and on edge. Uriel was not happy that Ilebaye had laughed at Doyin’s highlight of the season and said as much, immediately throwing the house into chaos as voices were raised.

Apparently, Uriel had worked on Doyin’s highlights, so she felt undermined and found Ilebaye’s actions annoying. The housemates battled to keep order, and eventually, Angel stepped in and hugged Uriel, imploring her to let it go so rehearsals could continue.

Meanwhile, after Biggie had asked the victorious teams to select their winnings which were 10 non-transferrable gold tokens that they had to split amongst themselves, suddenly a rift ensued between the Mavericks. Their six-member team experienced a few difficulties with equally splitting their tokens among each other.

Venita suggested that Ilebaye should receive the least of the spoils because according to her, she put in the least work in comparison to the rest of her team members. Ilebaye objected to this as she felt that Venita’s comment was harsh and unfair. After an intervention from the rest of the team, Ilebaye was forced to give in and she eventually agreed to Venita’s suggestion, much to her disappointment.

The question begging for an answer is how the housemates will relate to each other once Biggie has given his verdict at the end of their task presentation. If they win, will they bury the hatchet and move on? If they lose, will the fights be more intense, as food rations will also become an issue?