Big Brother Africa Takes Off

SO finally, the wraps are off and the twelve housemates in the Big Brother Africa house have been revealed.

Showbiz was privileged to see all twelve in the flesh as they were chauffeured in their gleaming 4x4?s to their Randburg ?fortress? in Johannesburg last Sunday.

The twelve contestants are chosen from Ghana, Angola, Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa, all English speaking African countries.

For 106 days these housemates, who entered as total strangers to one another, will live on television and all their actions - from sleeping through taking their baths to everything - will be in public view.

The housemates comprise five females and seven males who will share two bedrooms with six beds in each. Interesting!

Their ages ranges from 21 to 30. Three of them were schooled in America and four have close South African connections by virtue of their countries? proximity to South Africa.

Five of the housemates are in serious relationships and four are in the media world, either as artistes or as radio presenters and journalists.

Among the media fellows is Ghana?s Sammy Bee who has been expected to bring a lot of action and noise into the house. He has said that he is hoping for some romance and by the look of things within the first few days, Sammy may not have to search hard. Meet the rest of the housemates.

Angola; Bruna Estivao 25-year old Bruna a model lives in Luanda. An Aquarius she is engaged to be married. She is a little obstinate. She is irritated by dust and has no motto in life. Is also a singer who has recorded her own CD

Botswana: Warona Setshwaelo The 25-year old is a Video Editor. She has a boyfriend. Bad habits, stubborn and procrastination. She fears reptiles and amphibians.

Ghana: Samuel Bampoe (pictured) (28) is a radio Presenter who likes to rap. He comes from Akropong Akwapim. His star sign is Capricorn, he is single and his favorite food is Fish, rice, beef, and sauce. Has no bad habits.

Kenya: Alex Holi (21) is a psychology student. This 21-year old is a student from Nairobi is single, he loves chicken. His hero is Sammy Khakame, fears locusts and his motto is "Take life as it comes"

Malawi: Zien Dudha (27) is Marketing Manager for an ISP. He is single and loves pepper steak. He has no phobias is irritated by minibus drivers and slow computers.

Namibia: Stefan Ludik (21) is a polygraph examiner. He is the only white whitemate. This cool dude is a forensic Psychologist from Windhoek.He is single, his favourite food is Sushi. Bad habit leaving work undone until last minute.

Nigeria: Bayo Okoh (28) is a self-employed business man from the land of Okwonkwo. His hero is Nelson Mandela, he is afraid of stingy people, snobs, dirty toilets, gossip

South Africa: Abergail Plaatjies (25) is a fraud consultant. She is single; her favourite food is no red meat, chicken, fish and anything Italian.

Tanzania: Mwisho Mwampamba (22) likes rugby and other sports. He is 22-years old, self-employed from Morogoro. His star sign is Gemini, he has a girlfriend and "being in the BB house will be a test of their relationship".

Uganda: Gaetano Kagwa (30) is a Law student. His star sign is cancer, single and his moto is take it one day at a time.

Zambia: Cherise Makabale (23) works for an import and export company, i.e. procurement officer. Her star sign is Aries, she is single and her favourite food is anything with chicken in it. (pictured)

Zimbabwe: Tapuwa Mkhere (26) This 26-year old Public Relations Officer comes from Harrier. Her star sign is Gemini. She is single, but just out of a 5-year relationship.

Big Brother is on DSTV twenty-four hours with a packaged 30-minute slot on Metro TV and MNET daily. An omnibus version is also on show at the weekends. In that two-bedroom self-contained (including a garden, a storeroom, diary room, living room, dining area, kitchen and bathroom) house are 27 video cameras and 62 microphones which will pick every move and every sound - even at night when the housemates are asleep. The housemates will have no contact with the outside world and no access to television, radio or newspapers. Each of them will be allowed to pack one suitcase with clothes and items to help them through their time in the house. Only two books are allowed per housemate. Every Sunday, beginning June 22, one housemate will be evicted from the house through a carefully thought-out system of voting. The housemates themselves will by secret voting nominate one colleague to be evicted every week. Then viewers in the 12 participating countries can vote on country-specific telephone numbers. Each country is entitled to one vote so whoever the majority of viewers in that country vote for, that is the person that country?s vote will go to. Meanwhile viewers in non-participating African countries can also vote with their majority vote being counted as the 13th vote. In the event that all 13 votes are cast and the result is deadlocked, a spinning wheel will be used to decide who goes out. In all their dealings, it is how well or how badly the 12 absolute strangers relate to each other that will create the fun for most viewers Opportunities for creating relationship, or conflicts appear to have been intentionally built into the package.

The Presenter

Twenty-four-year-old Student of KNUST and TV Presenter Chris Attoh has been chosen as Guest presenter of Big Brother Africa,for M-net in Ghana.

Name: Christopher Keith Nii Attoh

Gender: Male

Age: 24

Place of Birth: Accra - Ghana

Height: 6ft, 2 in

Occupation: Student and TV presenter (GTV)

Best thing about Ghana: Our hospitality

Self-description: Warm, loving

To relax: Movies and painting

Style Sense: The clothes don?t make you look good, you make them look good. As long as they fit, make them look good.

Before going on-air: One short prayer and a loud scream!

Currently studying a BPA Painting Degree at the University of Science and Technology in Ghana, this spiritual young man successfully manages to juggle his studies with being a part-time TV presenter. Having previously worked as a radio presenter as well for Groove FM, Choice FM and Kapital Radio, he sees his role in BIG BROTHER AFRICA as ?a fine opportunity and a great challenge in my career.?