Big Brother Africa 4: Goodbye Phil

PHIL Okure, Uganda’s Big Brother housemate, bade farewell to the house on Sunday and at the same time also said tata to the US$200 000 that the remaining housemates stand to win when it’s all over.

Was it his alcohol-related outburst with Kaone that left him at the mercy of the viewers, or was it his articulate, innovative, shy, friendly naughty persona that made the viewers decide enough of Phil? Well, the 25-year-old marketing consultant sheds light on the lowdown of his stay in the house.Did you expect to leave the house so soon after only 3 weeks?No, actually I was really shocked by it. I did not expect to leave so soon.If you had the chance to go back into the house, would you change anything, for example would you backstab, conspire or connive a bit more?No, if I had to go back I wouldn’t change anything. I think I played the game to the best of my abilities. I think everything was played out as I expected it. I don’t have any regrets at all.Is there a specific housemate you were close to in the house?I was pretty close to all of them but from the guys especially Yacob, Hannington, Erastus, Elizabeth. And then from the girls, Rene and I connected. I was also quite close to Jen. Overall I would say I was pretty close to a lot of them. What do you think of Namibia’s Rene?She is a very unique woman. She was meant for this, and I think she can actually last to the end.You spent a night together, what happened? Nothing really happened, we just shared a bed.And why did you then ignore her for a couple of days afterwards?I wouldn’t say I ignored her, maybe I wasn’t spending a lot of time with her as I should have. I mean she was being looked at funny by the rest of the housemates, so I figured it would be better for us to give it a bit of a break. She and I both agreed that it would be best to give it a break.What caused your outbursts on those evenings that you had alcohol? Do you have a drinking problem?God no, no I do not have a drinking problem at all and I wouldn’t call them outbursts because it only happened once. What happened on that evening hardly qualifies to be called an outburst as it was only a misunderstanding. It was one silly misunderstanding with one of my housemates, I mean I would hardly call that an outburst, really. What was your strategy?Initially, when we first went into the house, I did not have a strategy because I didn’t know who my opponents were, I mean it would not have been wise to have a strategy without having met the people.I however developed a strategy later on in the house and formed an alliance with some of the housemates, because if we didn’t do it, the others would have done it against us. In my camp were Edward, Erastus, Hannington, Kaone and Itai. And I just recently found out that the viewers on the outside called us the ‘smokers alliance’. Why was Kaone your target?What? I am not aware that Kaone was my target. Kaone was never my target we just had a misunderstanding that’s all. He was never really a target.Do you think that fighting with Kaone over alcohol was your downfall?No, just to make that clear, we did not have a fight, we had a little misunderstanding. I was initially pissed off that night for some other reason and I also think I had a bit more to drink. But then again I acknowledge that having done that was not wise on my part.What really happened between you and Liz when you shared adjoining beds? We got close as friends and we bonded, that’s what I would call it.What is your honest opinion of her (Liz)?I knew that she was among the leaders or strong contenders in the house so initially I must admit that a huge part of why I got close to her was because of the game. I figured that the only way to break that was for me to get close to her. However I later got to know her and things changed. But one thing is for sure, I do like her.When you were interviewed by IK, he asked about what you and Liz had been up to, and you said ‘a gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell’. However, in the house you were regularly ‘kissing and telling’ by running off to tell the guys about what was happening with Liz, real or otherwise. It also seemed that you were exaggerating to them about what had or had not happened?First of all, I did not do it ‘regularly’ as you put it. But then again, well, I guess the answer should be that in the house I was not a gentleman which is why I kissed and told. That house gets to you. But let me highlight that I was not doing it regularly.* Tune in to DStv Channel 198 or 199 to catch the action live 24/7, or watch the daily highlights show on M-Net (DStv Channel 101/102) and AfricaMagic (DStv Channel 114) every day at 18h30. Weekly highlights will also be aired on NBC, every Saturday from 21h15 – 22h15.