‘The game was difficult’

“It was a tense environment. Everyone in the house was there for the money . . . people will do a lot to win the money and such was the environment,” said Itai in an telephone interview from South Africa.
But of course, some days were great — “it was about moments. We lived in moments. At one moment you are okay and the other you feel really out . . . there were ups and downs”.
But being booted out of a competition when one is just a step away is all the more painful.
“You can choose to cry about it, but I chose to carry on with m y life. Sure, the money is good, but the experience is very important.”
Sometimes, we are sure we know ourselves, but when one enters the Big Brother house, a new picture of you painted, he said, adding that you cannot really expect anything from anyone.
His relationship with the other housemates has been generally good which saw him being saved from eviction on two occasions and only fell on the third. On one occasion he had to save himself as head of the house.
His strategy to double deal with both camps from the male housemates — the smokers and non-smokers – proved to be effective during the “alliances” phase, but was to cost him as he was considered a “snake in the grass”, but “this was all the game was all about. We were allowed to make conspiracies and this was just part of the game”.
“I did make friendships in the house especially in the beginning, but as the show proceeded and the day for the money fast approached, there were some people who were also getting harder.”
Asked how he would describe his relationship with compatriot, Kristal, Itai said he thought he owed some kind of loyalty to her as a fellow country woman.
“When she was nominated for eviction, I had to save her. We are from the same country and I wanted to show my loyalty. However, our relationship was fairly good, I would say.”
Itai confessed he didn’t quite understand why Kristal threw a molotov cocktail at him anyway.
“On that particular day, I was a bit confused, but probably she wanted me participate more . . . it may have been that she wanted me to be more visible. Maybe she felt she wanted to help me.”
Itai is putting his bets on Kevin and Edward to take home the briefcase with a US$200 000 cash prize.
He thanked Zimbabwe for the support: “I think Zimbabwe has a lot of talent and we are going to get the money next time.”