By Obeten Godfrey
Calabar, the Cross River State capital will alongside seven other Nigerian cities, Lagos, Abuja, Warri, Benin, Port Harcourt, Ibadan and Enugu, host auditions for the season four of Africa’s most popular and controversial reality TV show, Big Brother Naija.
The reality TV show which follows the format of the International Big Brother franchise is known to bring excitement and entertainment to fans and viewers across the continent as it houses strangers over a period of three months (11 weeks) who contest against each other in a battle of wits for the ultimate prize, which packs viewership in millions.
The show is set to return for a fourth season with the producers also revealing that this would be the first time the Big Brother House will not be shot in South Africa, but Nigeria.
Auditions for the show will hold on the 1st and 2nd of February 2018 at the Venetian Arena, Murtala Muhammed Highway, Calabar, Cross River State.
Parts of the eligibility criteria outlined for the auditioning are:
1) You have to be 21 years or older
2) Have a valid international passport
3) You have to be physically present at the audition venue
4) There are no forms online or online registration, none at all.
In addition, Nigeria’s number one betting website, Bet9ja, has been announced as headline sponsors of the new season after E-commerce Store and pioneer sponsors, Payporte parted ways.
Recall that during the second season of the show, the Federal Government, had directed the National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, to investigate why the show was being staged in South Africa.
Information Minister, Lai Mohammed, had then asked the NBC to determine whether Multi Choice’s shooting of the show in South Africa, breached the Nigerian Broadcasting Code.
And the cable TV company have stressed that it does not sell or give out Big Brother Naija forms to individuals for the auditioning process because there is no form for auditioning.
Since its maiden edition in 2006, the Big Brother Naija reality TV show has produced some of the country’s biggest pop culture influencers and celebrities including Ebuka Obi-Uchendu, Gideon Okeke, Katung Aduwak, Bisola Aiyeola, Efe Ejeba, Uriel Oputa and mostly recently Miracle Ikechukwu, Tobi Bakre and Cynthia “Cee-C” Nwadiora.
The third season of the reality show premiered in 2018 was hosted by Ebuka Obi Uchendu. It kicked off on January 28, 2018, and lasted 13 weeks.
Subsequently, Miracle Ikechukwu emerged winner of the 2018 edition, after seeing off Tobi, Cee-C, Nina, and Alex to win the Big Brother Naija season 3 grand prize of 45 Million Naira and an SUV.