‘Shower hour’ is gone, but unisex bedroom will now supply thrills

DAYS after the United Kingdom canned it’s ‘‘boring” Big Brother reality show because of low viewer ratings, South Africa begins its fourth instal ment of Big Brother Africa this week.

And the show is sans its popular “shower hour” scenes, but promises to steam up bedtime by creating a unisex bedroom for the 14 contestants.

The Times visited the Big Brother Africa: Revolution house in Highlands North, Johannesburg, where the 14 strangers from around Africa will live together for 91 days, recorded by 40 cameras and 100 microphones. The footage is broadcast live across the continent, and contestants fight a battle of popularity for a US$200000 (R1.54-million) prize.

The producers and broadcaster, pay channel M-Net, have a mammoth task in promoting the show, which has previously been criticised for being ‘‘dull”.

Despite residents’ bath-time no longer being a feature of the show, M-Net believes that one of the new drawcards is housemates will be sharing a bedroom. Previously, men and women were separated.

M-Net publicist, Lani Lombard said that the broadcaster would “not judge their show according to the international versions … because it was still very popular in Africa”.

Ratings for the last show were unavailable as it is broadcast across a number of networks on the continent, she said.

“Judging from the web interest, the SMS lines and audiences at airports coming to welcome their country’s contestant, we have realised that there are millions of people watching the show,” she said.

The “ban on conspiring” has also been lifted and contestants will be free to forge alliances and strategise, said Lombard.

“There will be no shower hour, … but we have loads of surprises for our audiences to keep them glued to their screens,” said Lombard.

By The Times (SA)