All You Need To Know About BB Naija Past Winners

The Yorubas would say, “Many rains have fallen and the ground has drunk them all.” Arguably, one of the most controversial TV shows in Nigeria even the world, Big Brother Nigeria has come to stay. Yes, it has its place in the world aside from Nigeria because Big Brother Nigeria did not start as BBN rather its origin can be traced back to the Big Brother franchise created by Dutch-born billionaire, Johannes Hendrikus Hubert Del Mol Jr in 1999. Now, over 54 franchise countries as of 21, September 2019 have been linked to the show including Nigeria; 507 winners across all the franchise countries and so on. For the Big Brother Global Network alone, we can conclude that the TV show is not a joke but a big business that is taking in billion every year.

Having shone a bit of light on the history of this popular programme, coming to the local region which is Big Brother Naija is very vital as far as this article is concerned. The story so far has been nothing but tremendous improvement. It is evident that the show improves every year in all ramifications.

Background of the BBN Editions so far

Big Brother Nigeria 1

Taking the journey from the first edition of the reality TV show, BBN was launched as Big Brother Nigeria on 5, March 2006. For this edition, 14 housemates participated in the show for 92 days. Presenters, Olisa Adibua and Michelle Dede co-hosted the show that year. A five-time host of the TV show, since the second season of the TV show, Ebuka Obi-Uchendu was a participant of the first edition of the show and finished in the 8th position. Katung Aduwak, a participant from Kaduna, was crowned the winner of the prize money, $100,000 for that edition. A couple of popular celebrities today participated in the 2006 edition such as Gideon Okeke, Ebuka Obi-Uchendu.

Big Brother Naija 2: See Gobe

This edition was broadcast 11 years after the first edition in 2006. Big Brother Nigeria was changed to Big Brother Naija in 2017. A total of 14 housemates again participated in this second edition for 77 days. Ex-housemate, Ebuka Obi-Uchendu began his hosting career at BBN in this edition. This show was the first time fake housemates were introduced. Michael Efe Sheba won this edition prize of ₦25m (worth cash and prizes). The BBN reunion show began with this edition.

Big Brother Naija 3: Double Wahala

This edition marked a new beginning in the show as the participants and prize money increased from 14 to 20 and ₦25m to ₦45m (worth of cash and prizes) respectively. It was broadcast on 28 January 2018 on DStv. It was produced by Red Pepper Pictures from South Africa. The show ran for 3 months (85 days). It was hosted by Ebuka Obi-Uchendu and Miracle Ikechukwu Igbokwe won the edition. A couple of changes were introduced too such as fake evictions, no eviction of a housemate in a week etc.

Big Brother Naija 4: Pepper Dem

Even if many do not recall the events that ensued during this 4th edition of the show, one participant called Tacha Natacha Akide, who was later disqualified from the show. She did not win but there was a lot of controversies about her story which made her a celebrity since 2019. This 4 edition was aired on 30, June 2019 and produced again by South African production company, Red Pepper Pictures. Ebuka Obi-Uchendu hosted the show. For this edition, the prize money was increased to ₦60m (worth of cash and prizes) and it was won by Mercy Eke. This edition produced the first female winner of the reality TV show. Bet9ja was the major sponsor of the edition of the show. Bet9ja coins were introduced as an alternative virtual currency for BB naira.

Big Brother Naija 5: Lockdown

This 5th edition recorded the highest accumulation of votes across all platforms. Over 900 million votes were cast according to John Ugbe, M.D, MultiChoice Nigeria. According to him, BBN Season 5 cost ₦3.5 billion to produce. So, it was a massive show in 2020. It is very okay to say that the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the success of the TV show’s Season 5 edition. It was the most successful edition of the show so far. The prize was ₦85m (worth of cash and prizes) which was won by Olamilekan ‘Laycon’ Agbeleshe. A total of 20 housemates participated in the show for 71 days. The sponsors of the show were many such as Lush Hair, Minimie, Patricia, Betway (The major sponsor), Pepsi, and so many others. There was also a lot of drama during and after the show most especially the reunion show.

Big Brother Naija 6

Currently, this is the rave of the moment as the show aired on 24, July 2021 on DStv. This show comes with a couple of changes that will interest viewers such as a double launch show (which will cover for viewers that missed events that occurred during the week); a bigger prize of ₦90m (worth of cash and prizes); an upgraded Big Brother Naija house; 2 new house currencies; a brand new exclusively packaged BBN show on Showmax; all voting will be done on the BBN website and mobile site and MyDStv/MyGOtv Apps; U.K viewers will have access to the show via Showmax and fans of the show will be opportune to win ₦1m if they predict correctly a housemate who will emerge as the winner of the edition. It is indeed a loaded edition of the show and it only gets better and better.
Above all, in spite of all the controversies, Big Brother Naija has come to stay because it caters for the entertainment needs of its viewers. The show undoubtedly has a great journey ahead even with the digital age that is evolving continually.

Leshi Adebayo Oluwapelumi