ONE of Zimbabwe’s representatives in Big Brother Hotshots, Tariro ‘Butterphly’ Mharapara, is among a handful of contestants to feature in the final of the reality show, standing a chance to win US$300 000.
Butterphly survived the ‘chop’ this week because fellow housemates did not nominate her for eviction.
With 26 housemates from across Africa, this season of Big Brother (lasting 63 days) becomes the shortest in the history of the reality show.
However, as the show comes to an end, the question is to what extent did the housemates understand the concept of a reality competition?
According to Wikipedia, in a reality show, participants are filmed competing to win a prize, often while living together in a confined environment.
In many cases, participants are eliminated until only one person remains, who is then declared the winner.
Voting is done by the viewing audience, in this case Africa.
It is on such a platform that viewers expect to see participants act natural while living together in one house.
Since it is a reality show, housemates in Big Brother Africa are exposed to viewers across Africa including relatives, friends and neighbours.
It is the real personality of an individual that the viewers want to see.
Butterphly entered the house on a low profile after acquiring the least percentage on the talent show performed on the opening night when they were admitted into the Big Brother house.
She remained on the quiet side, secluding herself from the activities and drama, albeit only lightening up during her diary session.
Before entering Big Brother, she was well known as a presenter at one of the leading radio stations in Zimbabwe.
Apart from spending most of her time sleeping, Butterphly turned out to be one unique and bizarre housemate who takes a bath with her clothes on.
It is in Big Brother that people are introduced to Butterphly who describes herself as unique, feisty, mysterious and witty despite spending most of her time sleeping.
One therefore might ask what sort of a winner is Africa expecting from Big Brother Africa?
Housemates in the Big Brother Hotshots edition have presented themselves differently from those of the previous editions.
It is in this edition of Big Brother, that ‘Biggie’ tried to spice up the game by introducing new strategies.
The turn of events started when a ‘female Biggie’, known as ‘Fizzie’, came to replace the original Big Brother for a week.
Fizzie came as a no-nonsense ‘Biggie’ encouraging housemates to up their game.
She came to attack and counsel housemates, a move that Biggie did not do on the previous editions of the reality show.
With Fizzie gone, the housemates continued with their usual routine, pushing Biggie to unleash another strategy.
Big Brother brought ex- housemates from previous seasons. Although used as a prank to the Hotshots housemates, ex-housemates came to ‘confuse’ housemates while others gave advice.
It is through Vimbai Mutinhiri, a Zimbabwean ex-housemate that viewers were able to know more about Butterphly.
In her profile, Butterphly does not reveal that she is a mother of two, but after an ‘argument’ with Vimbai, viewers are enlightened that she has been married before.
The argument also revealed that Butterphly drinks alcohol, something she had been avoiding since entering Big Brother house.
Therefore it is through ex-housemates that the real identities of the Hotshots housemates were revealed. Thanks to ex-housemates, viewers were able to note the violent side of Macky 2 (Zambia), the womaniser in Idris (Tanzania), the jealousness of Sipe (Malawi) and how Tayo (Nigeria) is disrespectful to women. Up for eviction this week is JJ (Zimbabwe), Trezgar (Mozambique), Idris (Tanzania), Tayo (Nigeria), Sipe (Malawi), Ellah (Uganda), Sheilla and Goitse (Botswana).It remains to be seen if Butterphly returns home with the cash prize, but for now all that Zimbabweans can do is pin their hopes on her.