Big Brother Naija top housemates, Cee-C and Tobi, were MediaRoom Hub celebrity cover for the May edition of the Magazine, and the housemates brought their A-Game look to the photoshoot.
Cee-C and Tobi who kept viewers glued to the screen for 85 days alongside other top housemates, talked about how they hurt each other, why they are still hurting, and their career plans in this Magazine edition.
Here are excerpts from the interview;
ARE YOU BOTH AWARE THAT BIGBROTHER HOUSE IS A GAME HOUSE?
Cee-c – yeah…of course, I will speak for myself I’m very much aware that it was all a game.
Tobi – it’s a game but then you play it in a certain type of way, there is a part you have to play as a game. So, it’s a reality show and there is a reality and a show you also have to be part of. You can’t really play the game for 95days, we are humans. The game part is your nomination show.
BOTH OF YOU WERE THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL IN THE HOUSE, CAN YOU TELL US IF THE WHOLE DOUBLE WAHALA DRAMA WAS SCRIPTED OR IT JUST HAPPENED WHILE YOU GUYS WERE IN THE HOUSE?
Tobi – In the bigbrother house generally, nothing was scripted, everything that happened in there was very natural. Even at a point we thought we were boring and they might probably want to scrap the show that was how bad it was. So, nothing was predetermined everything was totally natural and that’s the nature of the game.
Cee-c – Eeeeerm…I totally agree with what Tobi said, in the house nothing was scripted. None of us was given any script to work on, everything that happened in the house were normal day to day activities.
TOBI THERE WAS THIS MAGICAL THING ABOUT YOU TWO WHEN YOU JUST GOT INTO THE HOUSE, SO WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO HER?
Tobi– In the game, how it happened was the head of house challenge. First of all, when we got on stage I saw this beautiful lady that was wearing a nice dress, so I complemented. And when we got to the house, we fakely got evicted and went back to the house. At first, I was meant to choose Koko, but she denied knowing me at a point prior to winning head of house, so I chose Cee-c as my partner. Naturally we started to bound, for the first two weeks it was more like sharing and knowing someone you kind of have like minds with, so we used to share thoughts and we kind of built a safe space around each other at that point.
SO CEE-C WHAT IS YOUR ATTRACTION TO TOBI?
Cee-c– So I got into bigbrother house amongst all the guys in the house , I saw this very nice looking young man, of course he is mentally attractive and I watched him every day, watched the way he handles the task, he pays attention to details. He is this guy that always cares about me, asking me questions about my wellbeing, more like we built a home together in the first few weeks because every night we come back to the bed to talk about the day. For me, the attraction was all package, it was amazing, he was an amazing guy too.
WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY ABOUT PEOPLE’S OPINION ON YOU BEEN POSSESSIVE IN THE HOUSE?
Cee-c– The truth is YES, cee-c is possessive, what belongs to me belongs to me. For a guy to say he likes me, and I like him too, it’s very normal for me not to want any girl around him. It wasn’t all about me been possessive, I think also I was scared about the fact that it’s a game and many girls would like to play dirty in there, so I didn’t want him to get close to these girls because they could use him to get to me.
SO TOBI WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY TO A WOMAN BEEN POSSESSIVE?
Tobi – well, it’s normal for a woman to be possessive but not to be over possessive. Its okay to want something and want it to yourself, but you can’t be extreme about it. That is just my opinion about a woman been possessive.
YOU WERE LIKE A VERY STRONG CONTENDER IN THE HOUSE, DO YOU THINK ONE OF THE DRAMA BETWEEN YOU AND CEE-C COST YOU THE PRIZE?
TOBI– for me I went into the house to be myself and I will never sacrifice being myself for 25million naira or 45million naira prize. Like if I’m going to win let me win as myself, of course I had my flaws.
THERE WAS A TIME IN THE HOUSE CEE-C ASSAULTED YOU VERBALLY, DO YOU TINK YOU MUST HAVE DONE SOMETHING WRONG TO MAKE HER REACTE THE WAY SHE DID?
TOBI– I did not particularly do anything to get what I got from cee-c, we were all been ourselves and natural. So I’m not responsible for people’s actions, in fact nobody is responsible for anybody’s actions. Actions or reaction is totally dependent on who you are as a person.
WAS YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH ALEX TO SPITE CEE-C OR WHAT?
TOBI – At no point did I do anything to spite Cee-c, even Alex sometimes preach to me about her, she’s the kind of girl who sees good in everybody, even when she thinks you are not so cool. I actually learnt that from Alex, I learnt to see good in people because it gives positive energy.
BEFORE YOU LEFT THE HOUSE, EBUKA ASKED IF YOU WERE GOING TO DATE ALEX OUTSIDE THE HOUSE, WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THIS?
Tobi– truth be told, that question was a very objective question, it’s like me getting to know you and I was asked that kind of question at that time. Alex is a good girl, why won’t I want to date her? For me to say I can’t date her means there is something wrong with her, but there is nothing wrong with her. Even without the last couple of weeks trying to know each other, I still think she is a good girl and I would give the same response. You see something good; you accept and acknowledge it is good.
YOU TWO GAVE US TOUGH TIME TRYING TO GET A PERFECT COUPLE PICTURE O BOTH OF YOU FOR OUR COVER , ARE YOU STILL ANGRY WITH CEE-C OR ARE YOU GUYS COOL NOW?
Tobi– As far as been professional and working together, definitely I’m sure we are both open to that. Nothing stops us from been cordial, but at the same time we are human beings. You saying we just drop whatever happened in the is like asking us not to be human and that’s not fair, if you ask me. I mean, we are human beings, definitely lines were crossed, things were said, and things were done. And it’s different when you come out of the house and you apologize genuinely for the things you did, like oh!! whatever thing I did or said that was me playing a game, outside the house sorry that wasn’t me , it was a different ball game sorry, then we access the whole situation and be like , okay it’s was just a game. But when you come out and even almost after leaving , you getting the same vibe, same responses, the same verbal interaction, it’s no more a game. That is the real situation, the real you, so I’m not upset, I’m not angry. For me it was a ‘let it out’ you know when you are angry with someone and you have exhausted you energy, you will be like come and give me a hug and everything will end there. I was thinking we would get to that point but we didn’t. What will end all this is a genuine apology, bigbrother quoted one and she apologized for that, but that wasn’t the first time it was going to happen. It was more like the 3rd time, at a point I almost felt like, yo mehn… it’s like this thing is partial, Bigbrother you are seeing this, this is not right. You don’t apologize for the one Bigbrother saw, if you want to apologize, you do it genuinely, and you apologize in totality. If you want to change as a person, you acknowledge and accept your mistakes, apologize and then try to be better, that’s just it for me.
BASED ON WHAT WE WATCHED ON OUR SCREEN, BOTH OF YOU OFFENDED EACH OTHER AND YOU OWE EACH OTHER APOLOGY. SO ARE YOU GUYS READY TO MAKE THINGS RIGHT?
Tobi– yeah, I agree. I have been the one talking since; to be honest nobody can tell me that part in the house was a game. Of course, professionally I don’t hate her. A lot of things I did do in the house, how I was able to handle a lot of things in the house was because I still see her as a friend. But for me, for this relationship to continue three things are involved. Accept you were wrong, apologize and then try to be better.
Cee-c– I don’t want to sound defensive in here but the truth is I don’t think I owe Tobi any apology as at now. You know why? Because I have already apologized for using certain words at him that is, what I know I said wrong. When I went into the house, I didn’t ask Tobi to come around me, I didn’t force him to like me. He should have simply walk up to me to tell me what I did wrong. One thing I know I did very wrong was the day that I used a lot of bad words to him, for that I apologized to Tobi.
Tobi- It wasn’t the first time.
Cee-c– I apologized not because he wasn’t wrong or didn’t do anything for me to do what I did , but because no matter what, attitude is good with all regardless and I feel like that is not who I want to be. I don’t what to hear Cee-c is this Cee-c is that, and I don’t want that for myself either. Everybody watched the show; you all saw what went down in the Bigbrother house. You all saw what Cee-c did wrong, what Tobi did wrong. I agree I was wrong by using certain words for Tobi and I apologized to him. Whether he thinks it was a game of whatever, that’s his cup of tea and he can drink it.
SO TOBI, DO YOU STILL HAVE FEELINGS FOR CEE-C?
Tobi– We are friends; I just really need her to learn. Learning is vital, even when we were romantically involved, we were friends and we had issues, nobody is against you. So from a friend to a friend, learn to be a better person.
SO IF MO’ABUDU CALLS YOU GUYS FOR A SET TOGETHER , WILL YOU ACCEPT OR DECLINE THE OFFER?
Tobi– we can work together, I am very professional or let me say I have to be professional. When I was head of house, I had issues with a lot of people. People dint like me but regardless we come together and achieve. Smile when we have to smile, get the job done. For me, I would like to get the job done regardless of personal issues. So working professionally? Definitely we can, but to try and be in a relationship, we can’t. We just have to be friends, I repeat just friends. Looking at the kind of support she is getting, she feels there is nothing wrong with what she did or said in the house. Before leaving the house she felt that way, leaving the house now she even feel more like that.
Cee-c- Sorry about what exactly, like I said earlier I owe Tobi no apology.
WHO WAS YOUR STRONGEST CONTENDER IN THE HOUSE AMONGST THE GIRLS?
Cee-c – I think Anto was my strongest contender in the house.
WHY ANTO?
Cee-c– I chose Anto because she is never vocal, she never got involved in any fight or argument in the house , so I felt like she was more composed than I am. For the ladies, its either you want the one who is very quiet ( Anto) or the one who is crazy ( Cee-c).
WHAT WAS YOUR HAPPIEST MOMENT IN THE HOUSE?
Cee-c– I think it was the day I won the Payporte Arena game, because I was really sick. I had panic attack before the task, biggie dint even think I could participate in the task. I went there and I won the game, that day was my happiest day in the house.
SO WHY DID YOU HAVE A PANIC ATTACK?
Cee-c- To me that environment was new, I’m not used to staying in a place with so much people. I’m not use to a lot of things that happened in the house. I had a lot in my head, thinking about my family, thinking about the people out there and how they see me, there was Tobi’s issue too.
DO YOU THINK TOBI HAD A HAND IN THE WAY OTHER HOUSEMATES SAW YOU IN THE HOUSE?
Cee-c– No, I wouldn’t do that to Tobi. I feel like he is an adult, you should be able to see things for yourself. You shouldn’t form an opinion based on what people tell you, People say want they want to say.
IN THE HOUSE, SOME OF THE HOUSEMATES SAW TOBI AS A GOSSIP, WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY TO THIS?
Cee-c– Tobi talks about people a lot, to him it might not be gossiping but I call that gossiping. He talks about people when they are not there; he does that a lot with his friends so I see Tobi as a gossip.
DO YOU KNOW THAT YOU WERE THE DOUBLEE WAHALA?
Cee-c – yeah!!! I’m surprised to hear that, I felt like I was doing my thing .All that happened was just Cee-c being cee-c. Honestly, when I came out and I saw some of the videos I was shocked and surprised to see what I did. Though I started watching from Bigbrother house, when we are about to get a strike biggie show us the video.
SO WHAT PLANS DO YOU HAVE NOW THAT THE GAME IS OVER?
Cee-c– I have a lot of plans funny enough, because before I went for Bigbrother I wanted to go for my masters (MBA) and I wanted to finance it , because I’m very independent . I wanted to go into the house, win the money so I can further my education, unfortunately, I dint win the money so I have to stay here and make this money. While I’m here, I want to go everything entertainment; acting , hosting, modeling , fashion, but I don’t want to be an artist. I’m not going to leave my father’s business, I’m also an advertising practitioner, but then I’m not going to be doing a 9-5, Probably going to be doing freelance. For me now, it’s all about entertainment so I can be able to get money to fund my masters.
DO YOU THINK OTHER HOUSEMATES WERE TRYING TO FRUSTRATE YOU INTO DEPRESSION?
Cee-c – yeah…coming out of the house now, I realized that other housemates saw me as threat to them and they tried to pull me down. I feel like people were intentionally doing certain things to frustrate me.
DO YOU ALSO THINK ALEX BROKE THE ‘GIRL CODE’ BY BEEN TOO CLOSE TO YOUR MAN INSTEAD OF TRYING TO RECTIFY THE DAMAGES THAT HAS AFFECTED YOUR RELATIONSHIP?
Cee-c– In the house we were just trying to be friends and not to build a relationship. I had nothing against them being together, but the only thing I have against Alex is the fact that, you are a woman for God sake, you sit with him and discuss your fellow woman, giving false information about her . So I don’t think Alex snatched anybody from me, Tobi was never mine in the first place. The only thing I frowned at was Alex gossiping about me with Tobi, she painted an ugly picture of me and for whatever reason she did that, I don’t know.
DO YOU THINK THEY ARE BEST FRIENDS OR THEY ARE SECRETELY DATING?
Cee-c – whatever they are doing is their business not mine.
HOW IS YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH ALEX?
Cee-c – she’s just like every other housemate to me, because out of this place, we are trying to see what we can all do together.
SO IF TOMORROW YOU HEAR THAT ALEX AND TOBI ARE OFFICIALLY DATING, HOW WOULD YOU FEEL?
Cee-c– Its fine really, because if I’m not with Tobi, he should be with someone else and if it’s Alex, for me it is the same thing as been with another girl. So it’s no big deal.
YOU MENTIONED A NAME ‘DIDI’ IN THE HOUSE, WERE YOU IN ANY RELATIONSHIP BEFORE GOING INTO BIGBROTHER HOUSE?
Cee-c- There is actually a Didi, he is my best friend. He was the one who told me and pushed me into this in the first place; he has always been there for me. We were never dating, we are just friends, so any time I’m lonely I just call the name Didi.
THERE HAS BEEN SPECULATIONS THAT YOU AND EBUKA DATED IN THE PAST, BUT HE WENT ON AIR TO DENY KNOWING YOU IN PERSON, SO WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU, DO YOU KNOW EBUKA IN PERSON?
Cee-c – Actually, this was the first issue I addressed immediately I got out of the house, he is a married man for Christ sake. The first time I mentioned Ebuka’s name was when they asked us about role model and I said Ebuka, because he is a lawyer, so am I. I kept wondering how he was able to make it in the entertainment industry; somehow he is very relevant in the industry. I always looked forward to time when I can ask him how he was able to achieve all these, I also want to do what he is doing, I want to remain relevant in the industry, and the only thing that got me attracted to Ebuka was his career transitioning. We never had a personal meeting before the Bigbrother game, I saw Ebuka at a beauty pageant. I can understand that Ebuka may not remember me; definitely he must have met a lot of faces being an influence, so it’s okay for him not to remember me. Even when I was doing my Bigbrother registration, I never contacted him.
WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THE PICTURE OF YOU TWO THAT WENT VIRAL?
Cee-c – that was a picture from the beauty pageant, that was the first time I met Ebuka .
SO WHO IS YOUR CELEBRITY CRUSH?
Cee-c – coming out of the house to see all the things Uti did for me, I’m crushing on him right now. So, I would say Uti is my celebrity crush. Shout out to Uti and thank you for everything.
YOU WERE THE ONLY HOUSEMATE THAT HAD THE EFFONTRY TO RIP THE OUTIF GIVEN TO YOU BY PAYPORT, WAS THAT ALSO YOU BEING YOURSELF OR A MISTAKE FROM PAYPORTE?
Cee-c – I always try to express myself through my dressing, so when it comes to fashion I’m always conscious of what I wear. I have plans of doing thing that has to do with fashion, so it wasn’t about payporte giving me a bad dress, it was just Cee-c being Cee-c . I always like to look the way I want to be address.
EARLIER YOU SAID YOU PLANNING ON GOING FOR ANGER MANAGEMENT CLASSES, WHAT STEPS HAVE YOU TAKEN CONCERNING THIS DECISION?
Cee-c – I won’t say because someone did one or two things and I reacted, I don’t have anger issue. You can be angry but don’t react that way, that’s not cool. For me it’s all about learning, knowing the fact that bottling thing inside is not good enough, you can explode at anytime and hurt the other person.
DO YOU REGRET YOUR ACTIONS TOWARDS TOBI?
Cee-c – yes , I used certain words at Tobi which weren’t good enough. I shouldn’t have acted that way, just realized there are better ways to talk things out without insulting anybody. Not the fact that I express my anger, but the way I expressed it.
