Florence Uwaeme
The first series of Nominations are complete, and some Housemates’ fates now hang in the hands of the voting audience.
It’s been the question on everybody’s mind since the Housemates totally failed to get anywhere close to identifying the two Wildcards – how would Maria and Pere be treated by those they had so recently – and spectacularly – duped?
Of course, it was not just them who had something to be worried about. Liquorose and Jaypaul would have been less than one hundred per cent confident in their chances of getting through the first Nomination session of the Season since they were thought to be the two Wildcards. They weren’t, but the vote suggests that at least some of the Housemates were hoping that they might get lucky on two counts – correctly identify the two Wildcards and get rid of unwanted Housemates.
Beatrice and Yerins might also have been a bit concerned, since they were the two Housemates hot on the heels of the Wildcard vote leaders, except – of course – they didn’t know that. We did, though, and it was that little bit of what literary academics like to call “dramatic irony” that made tonight’s Nominations anything but a fait accompli.
It started as it always does – Big Brother’s booming baritone beckoning the bewildered Housemates to the Diary Room (and toward some needless alliteration). There, one by one, the Housemates were required to put somebody’s head on the block, ready for the chop. And… that’s where the predictability stopped, because when we say, “one by one”, we should actually say, “one and then the other”. Only two Housemates were called into the Diary Room – the two former Wildcards.
Maria and Pere were informed that they would have four Nominations, each and that they would be the only Housemates doing any nominating at all. This, of course, gives them an incredible edge – they get to decide who is up for Nomination, without their Votes being watered down by those of the other Housemates, and they are guaranteed to be safe at the next Eviction.
On the other hand, since nobody else got to Nominate anybody, the nominated Housemates know exactly who to blame for their situation. It seems that Maria and Pere are not out of jeopardy, just yet. The Housemates who have Maria to thank for their current predicament are Beatrice, Jaypaul, Whitemoney and… Jannis – that last one doesn’t exist, in the House. After more than a week, she didn’t know that his name was “Yerins”. No wonder he made the list.
Pere’s list of nominees includes Beatrice, Yerins, Niyi and Whitemoney. So – it turns out that Beatrice and Yerins were on the block, despite only the Wildcards voting. They must be chuffed. Both Maria and Pere also Nominated Whitemoney – the Housemate they thought had the best chance of identifying them as the Wildcards. Clearly, they’ve identified a threat.
“Housemates – the Nominations process is now complete.”
Those words dropped like a bomb, as did the Housemates’ realisation of the implications. All that was left was to identify the Housemates who were nominated: Beatrice, Yerins, Jaypaul, Niyi and Whitemoney. Boma – as Head of House – was offered the chance to use his position to veto one of the Nominations, and replace it with another. Thus was Jaypaul saved, and Yousef put in his place. None of the other Housemates can know exactly who voted for them, except Yousef. This is probably going to be an awkward week.
