Season 4 of Big Brother Naija was a very dramatic season that ultimately ended with contestant Mercy Eke taking the crown and beating out runner-up Mike Edwards. Till today, Mercy remains the only woman to have won Big Brother Naija.
Speaking to some of the top ladies from the show during a Blackbox Roundtable Conversation, host of the BBNaija show Ebuka Obi-Uchendu asked the ladies why they think Mercy has been the only female winner to come out of Big Brother Naija. Ex-housemates Bisola, Dorathy, and Mercy clashed over why they believed it happened. Here’s what each woman said.
The question Ebuka asked was
“Why do you think we still have just one female winner from the Big Brother Naija franchise?” Here’s how each woman responded:
Bisola
Not just for Big Brother but for any show, it’s usually the women who get to vote more than male viewers. It’s always the women. Being that it was a lot of men that won, they have a lot of female fans. And that first fact, either they like the guy, his swag, out of pity, something. They get to vote for him more. Now in Mercy’s case, f*** it. We’ve had too many male winners, we’re going to push so hard for this girl. So it was a conscious and deliberate act from a lot of people, not just women, who decided that you know what? Mercy we love you and we’ll do everything in our power to make you win. But otherwise, it’s always just been the gender that votes the most is women and they would obviously vote for the opposite gender which is the guy. Personally I just believe it’s the natural order of things, it’s the attraction to the opposite gender, from time immemorial. When you see a guy that’s a single parent, it’s like “oh my god, he’s bathing a child!”, “oh my god, he’s taking the kid to school”, it’s such a turn on, it’s attractive, you see it as something that’s a big deal. But when it’s a woman that is the single parent, “ehnn, na normal level na”, “na woman, na so e supposed be”. So it’s things like that that make it seem like the guys are doing a lot more. And that’s why I think women they gear towards the guys and that’s why they vote more. That’s why I say in Mercy’s case, it was a deliberate effort, people were just tired. We said no, this babe is worth it and we’re going to give it to her.
Dorathy
I don’t necessarily agree. I feel with Mercy, there wasn’t – and I love Mike a lot – but there wasn’t like a stronger contender. I love Mike and I feel like Mike was amazing, but the fact that he was married took a little bit away from his fight. Mike didn’t have an opportunity. Nigerians, once you have an accent, there is a problem. He had an accent, he came from abroad, and then he was successful before.
Mercy
Mike being married kept him in the house. Mike being married was the reason he stayed that far. I was ready to win.
