After spending three weeks in Big Brother’s ‘Level Up’ house, DANIEL ABEL speaks to Ilebaye Odiniya and Ismail Rukuba Ahalu known as Khalidon their highlights, relationships and experience while on the show. Excerpts:
How do you feel about leaving the BBN show as early as you did?
To be honest, I felt really bad. I wasn’t really happy because I thought I would stay longer and discover myself, have fun and also achieve what I went for. But I am still glad that I was able to spend the three weeks in the house.
I read somewhere that you are an actress. How true is that?
I started acting right from when I was in JSS 1. I played roles in Wale Adenuga production, Papa Ajasco and Super Story. Normally, I love to act because I know I am a good actress. From there the skill developed so I started acting in Nnena and Friends and many others. I decided that once I had gotten my degree, I would really concentrate on my acting career because I didn’t want anything to distract me.
What exactly was your strategy going into the house? Because I have heard many people say you were just there to scatter ships and cause trouble.
Funny enough, I didn’t go with any strategy because to be sincere, I watch only the evictions and Saturday party. So I was literally scared going into the house wondering if people would like me because I don’t watch the show and I didn’t know what people expected from me. My mum asked me to be myself so I didn’t go into the house to scatter ships or provoke someone. I just went there to be myself and have fun but if I was given a task to scatter ships, I would have done it.
Can you talk to us about your relationship with Bryan
Bryan was a friend in the house, there was no feeling or anything involved, we were just two matched people who came to Big Brothers house to vibe. He even told me he likes me and I made him know that he wasn’t my type and I felt like he was just confused because today he is with this person and tomorrow he is with another person so I didn’t want to involve myself with that kind of person. To me there was no connection, I just saw him as a good friend because he usually checked up on me when I was ill so there was really nothing deep going on between us.
Was Big Brother House scripted? There’s a school of thought that says it is.
No Big Brother House is 100 per cent real. There’s nothing that happens in the house that’s scripted. Nobody tells you what to do. We just live our life likes we normally do in the real world. There is nothing scripted about anything from the audition to the house, to leaving to starting a new life. It’s just pure and real.
Did you see your eviction coming? Did you expect to be among the second set to leave the show?
No, I didn’t see my eviction coming. I thought that I was even going to get the money and I would be among the top seven or top five in the house. Even when Big Brother mentioned my name for possible eviction, I told myself not to be scared because I was 95 percent sure I wasn’t going anywhere. I knew I was being real. But on Saturday when I had a dream about me at home then I was like there’s something wrong and probably I would leave. On Sunday, I knew I would go home because dreams don’t lie and maybe God was just trying to make me prepare just in case I heard my name. I even mentioned it to Khalid that I thought we were going home because in my dream, my sister mentioned Khalid’s name and he was like it could be the opposite.
Do you see any friendship with Beauty outside the house?
I would really love her to explain the stuff about her saying I am fake with reasons and if it looks like she wants the friendship no problem because I really care about her. In the house she also seemed like the only person who genuinely liked me before Groovy came in to the picture. I care about her and she’s also a good person so if it flows no problem but if it doesn’t I wish her well so if I see her outside I’ll say hi and also apologise since people think I am part of the reason she was disqualified though I am not yet at least I still owe a little bit of apology.
Can you throw some light on your relationship with Dotun in the house?
From the start, there was no relationship and there is still no relationship right now. But I see him as a very nice, calm and respectful person. I wish I had more time to know him and see the kind of person he is. I wish I got to know him as a friend because he looks like a friend who would be down for you just like the Saturday night party when he saw me crying and tried to cheer me up. There’s no relationship. I only care about him as a friend.
Now that you are out of the house, who would you be rooting for among your fellow housemates?
I really don’t know because I have people I care about. I like Chomzy, Phyna, Dotun, Groovy, Doyin, Bryan, and Amaka. So let the best man win from anyone of them because this year’s Big Brother show is really unpredictable and it is someone who you are not expecting that will win the show.
What would you be focusing on now that you are out of the house?
I want to build my empire from now because I am a very young girl. I want to take out time to know exactly what I want and start something that would not die two or three years from now. I also want to start my own orphanage home because I don’t like seeing people hawking and staying under the bridge so I want to be the reason someone has a roof over their head.
and then