Gae’s big brother nigeria Sojourn

Jun 22, 2006

Big Brother House is Gaetano’s playground. He is adapted to it and inside it’s confinement, comes alive –– on TV.

By Sebidde Kiryowa

Big Brother House is Gaetano’s playground. He is adapted to it and inside it’s confinement, comes alive –– on TV.

He is perhaps the only known Big Brother housemate to have actually been in three separate Big Brother (BB) houses –– BB Africa, BB UK and BB Nigeria. And, of the former BBA housemates, perhaps the only one Africa still cares about.

It is no surprise that Katung, the 26-year-old production assistant in Lagos who beat 13 housemates to BBN’s grand prize of $100,000 (sh185m) envied Gae’s success. He said he had always been a fan of Gae for he enjoyed his time in the BBA environment and had gone on to transform his reality TV fame into a lasting career.

Gaetano is co-presenter of M-Net’s Studio 53, alongside Rosie Motene. The programme highlights the ultimate travel destinations Africa has to offer. He travels once every three weeks to South Africa. In addition, he is also the Face of Crane Bank, one of the top emcees in town and the proprietor of Zone 7, a hang out/ functions venue in Bugoolobi.

Is he rich? “I’ve been able to advance myself financially and I’ve put something away for a rainy day. There are opportunities I’ve got that would never have come my way if it weren’t for Big Brother Africa,” he says.

How did he find the BBN house? “It was very nice walking upstairs like you were walking out of the house, he says. “It was very African. From the decor, the African masks and the small rooms. It had a special warmth about it,” he recalls. But he thought the house was too small for all those “big” Nigerians.

As usual, he had something wacky up his sleeves. He lied to the housemates that Nigeria had qualified for the World Cup! The morning after he entered the house, Gae, together with Katung, tried to throw one of the girls into the bathtub. “But she was too heavy. God, Nigerians are big!”

And, he had a lot to say. “During conversations, they paid so much attention to what I was saying. That made me feel special,” he recalls.

What they talked about? “I’m a very down-to-earth person. I told them the truth about this whole Big Brother thing,” he says.

“I told them there are a lot of opportunities waiting for them out there. The BB house is your stepping stone to fame and fortune but you’ve got to be mature. You can’t lose focus. You can’t let it get to your head.”

After the Nigerian experience, who knows, Gae might be up for yet another Big Brother experience half way across the world, perhaps in the Far East or the US. For now, he is contented and grateful for what life has afforded him.

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