Big Brother Africa: Not so ‘untouchable’ after all

ZAMBIA’S Maxwell was in for a rude awakening on Sunday night – he came out of the house to find that the majority of African countries voted to see him evicted from the BBA house.

In the most unanimous vote of the competition so far, every single African country – apart from his own, voted the overconfident housemate out of the game. In a short telephonic interview yesterday, he set the record straight about the what he sees as public misconceptions and explained what was going through his mind during his last week in the house.* How has the public response been towards you since your eviction? A lot of people thought I did not handle the nomination very well.What they did not know is what was going through my mind at the time.It is not that I was bigheaded or that I thought I was going to win, it is just that all the housemates kept coming up to me and telling me that they were surprised I’d been nominated.That really upset me because I felt that they were lying to my face.They were adding salt to the wounds.Someone must have nominated me or I would not have been up for possible eviction.* Initially, you were one of the most popular housemates.What do you think led to your downfall? The way I handled the nomination definitely created a negative perception of me with viewers.If I could, I would have handled it differently.I wouldn’t have dwelt on the nominations as much and I would have just continued playing the game.* When the housemates received messages from home, your father warned you to remain humble and not to become bigheaded.Why didn’t you heed your father’s advice? Look, I don’t think I became bigheaded.If viewers thought so, well – then they are entitled to their opinion.But in my own mind, I never played the game as though I was the winner.I’m only human and I was affected by the nominations.It affected my performance and it affected my mental strength.* Who is the real Maxwell.The funny guy or the bigheaded ‘untouchable’? The person I was at the beginning of the game is the real me.I am a very humble and funny guy and a lot of people really liked me a lot.Like I said, I was affected by the nominations and that created the wrong impression of me.* How do you feel knowing that you were voted out by such a large margin? Even though I was voted out by the whole of Africa, except for Zambia I still feel like I have the support of people across the continent.Look at how popular I was at the beginning of the show.I’m still the same person and I will carry on with my life.* At different times in the game, you nominated Bertha, Meryl and Kwaku – all of whom were your closest allies in the house.Why? I did vote for them but not at the time that we were close.When I nominated Kwaku – I was very close to Richard.The time I nominated Meryl, we were not as close.* You were very critical of Meryl for what you termed her “un-African” behaviour and you spoke negatively about Richard’s fling with Tatiana.Don’t you think you were a little hypocritical – considering that you also have a girlfriend on the outside – yet you were in a relationship with Lerato? Look, people misunderstood me.I did not speak behind Meryl’s back.I told her to her face that I did not like the way she portrayed herself …That was my opinion and I discussed it with her, I was very open about it.As for Richard, I never judged him for it.Other housemates would bring it up with me and I just offered my opinion.* You said that you only kissed Lerato, but that is not what we saw on the Uncut version of the show.Did you go all the way with her? No, I definitely did not go all the way.We mostly kissed.Sometimes it would go a little further but we did not cross the line.We were in a difficult position.I’m sure many other people would do the same if they were in that environment.It is easy to judge but when you go through it, its completely different.* What are your plans with Lerato now? Well, as I said to KB on the eviction show, I love my girlfriend very much.She is in Zambia at the moment and I am in South Africa, so I have not had a chance to speak to her.Lerato and I will talk more about our future when she gets out of the house.* Do you think that not saving Meryl was a mistake? No, I don’t think so.As I said on the show.If I had saved Meryl and Maureen had left then Code would have been upset with me.If I had saved Maureen and Meryl had been evicted then Kwaku would have been upset with me.I chose to save Ofunneka because of the huge contribution she made in the house and I still stand by my decision.* What does the future hold in store for you? Well, this was a wonderful opportunity, a platform from which to work from.I am interested in pursuing all the opportunities that come my way.I would also like to pursue my dream of becoming an HIV-AIDS activist.In a short telephonic interview yesterday, he set the record straight about the what he sees as public misconceptions and explained what was going through his mind during his last week in the house. * How has the public response been towards you since your eviction? A lot of people thought I did not handle the nomination very well.What they did not know is what was going through my mind at the time.It is not that I was bigheaded or that I thought I was going to win, it is just that all the housemates kept coming up to me and telling me that they were surprised I’d been nominated.That really upset me because I felt that they were lying to my face.They were adding salt to the wounds.Someone must have nominated me or I would not have been up for possible eviction.* Initially, you were one of the most popular housemates.What do you think led to your downfall? The way I handled the nomination definitely created a negative perception of me with viewers.If I could, I would have handled it differently.I wouldn’t have dwelt on the nominations as much and I would have just continued playing the game.* When the housemates received messages from home, your father warned you to remain humble and not to become bigheaded.Why didn’t you heed your father’s advice? Look, I don’t think I became bigheaded.If viewers thought so, well – then they are entitled to their opinion.But in my own mind, I never played the game as though I was the winner.I’m only human and I was affected by the nominations.It affected my performance and it affected my mental strength.* Who is the real Maxwell.The funny guy or the bigheaded ‘untouchable’? The person I was at the beginning of the game is the real me.I am a very humble and funny guy and a lot of people really liked me a lot.Like I said, I was affected by the nominations and that created the wrong impression of me.* How do you feel knowing that you were voted out by such a large margin? Even though I was voted out by the whole of Africa, except for Zambia I still feel like I have the support of people across the continent.Look at how popular I was at the beginning of the show.I’m still the same person and I will carry on with my life.* At different times in the game, you nominated Bertha, Meryl and Kwaku – all of whom were your closest allies in the house.Why? I did vote for them but not at the time that we were close.When I nominated Kwaku – I was very close to Richard.The time I nominated Meryl, we were not as close.* You were very critical of Meryl for what you termed her “un-African” behaviour and you spoke negatively about Richard’s fling with Tatiana.Don’t you think you were a little hypocritical – considering that you also have a girlfriend on the outside – yet you were in a relationship with Lerato? Look, people misunderstood me.I did not speak behind Meryl’s back.I told her to her face that I did not like the way she portrayed herself …That was my opinion and I discussed it with her, I was very open about it.As for Richard, I never judged him for it.Other housemates would bring it up with me and I just offered my opinion.* You said that you only kissed Lerato, but that is not what we saw on the Uncut version of the show.Did you go all the way with her? No, I definitely did not go all the way.We mostly kissed.Sometimes it would go a little further but we did not cross the line.We were in a difficult position.I’m sure many other people would do the same if they were in that environment.It is easy to judge but when you go through it, its completely different.* What are your plans with Lerato now? Well, as I said to KB on the eviction show, I love my girlfriend very much.She is in Zambia at the moment and I am in South Africa, so I have not had a chance to speak to her.Lerato and I will talk more about our future when she gets out of the house.* Do you think that not saving Meryl was a mistake? No, I don’t think so.As I said on the show.If I had saved Meryl and Maureen had left then Code would have been upset with me.If I had saved Maureen and Meryl had been evicted then Kwaku would have been upset with me.I chose to save Ofunneka because of the huge contribution she made in the house and I still stand by my decision.* What does the future hold in store for you? Well, this was a wonderful opportunity, a platform from which to work from.I am interested in pursuing all the opportunities that come my way.I would also like to pursue my dream of becoming an HIV-AIDS activist.