The Erica Nlewedim Experience And Life After BBNaija Show

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The fifth installment of the Big Brother Naija show, known as the Lockdown season premiered on 19 July 2020 on DStv channel 198 and GOtv channel 29. The reality opened with 20 contestants and viewers as usual were in anticipation of what the characters would bring to the show. From the moment Erica Nlewedim was introduced on stage to her entrance into the house, there was much to be curious about.

She had a smile that lit up the room and her outfit was a show stopper arousing curiosity as to what this beauty pageant contestant has to offer. Perhaps because the season came at a lockdown period with the corona virus outbreak being dealt with world wide coupled with regulations on movement, more people had time in their hands to follow the show from the start including new viewers. 

Erica Nlewedim came with a calm but noticeable presence and as time went by drew more attention, drawing in a huge fan base to her name by being a fun, lively and sweet human being. She had moments where she had trouble coping with the realities of being in a space that increasingly became difficult to the point that she had thoughts of leaving the show and at a point was requesting for a psychologist to help her cope with the internal issues she was dealing with. Though that did not happen, she found some sort of solace to carry on, perhaps taking comfort in the closeness she developed with one of the housemates Kiddwaya. 

Nonetheless, she drew a huge fan base that love her and were ready to stand for her for the long run, equally loving her regardless of whatever was going on with her in the house. They took her struggles as their own and embraced her unconditionally, cementing a strong bond that stood with her all through her time and stay in the Big Brother's house. Last week however, her run on the show came to an abrupt end following a meltdown that saw her get disqualification from the show. 

Just before her disqualification however, her fans in preparation for the coming week of voting launched what they termed Elites League mesh to aid her stay in the house through the brand. The merchandize sold out quickly with more demands. This demonstrated how much she is loved and how much the fans were willing to do for her, it also sent a message that she can be a brand. On the wake of her disqualification which sent shockwave through her fan base, Elites (her fan base name) in demonstration of the unconditional love and support, decided to launch a fund raiser to put their money where their mouth is and within few hours, donations came pouring that it got the attention of some main stream media. 

That made another big statement and gave a hint of her market value which may or may not have registered even with the show organisers, from a business perspective.  

A day after she left the house, an interview was aired by the show organizers on Big Brother Naija blog to speak on her stay in the house and the circumstances that lead to her disqualification. Erica said she and her love interest in the house Kiddwaya contributed in getting the punishment that they got just by being together. she further apologized for the incident between her and Lycon and the things she said to him while she was going through the melt down. The publication on the official blog was criticized by her fans however for the controversial headline that was casted and they made so much noise about it that it had to be changed more than once. 

https://africamagic.dstv.com/show/big-brother-nigeria-s5/videos/bbnaija-gist-i-think-that-kiddwaya-played-a-role-in-me-getting-strikes-erica/video

Moving forward, after witnessing her mental breakdown on live television, the hope is that she takes enough time off to deal with underlying issues that gave rise to the unanticipated meltdown that she had during her last day on the show rather than succumbing to pressure to meet up certain obligations or for business purposes from any quarters. Her mental healing and well being as a human is very important after the whole experience. 

The entertainment industry she was in before the show requires being in the public eye constantly and comes with it scrutiny and demands. This requires a certain level of, mental and emotional strength to be able to stand and survive. Therefore before anything else, those behind her, her team and management need to realize this and pay close attention to these needs before engaging her on anything from this point on. 

Show business has proven times without number that it is not for the faint hearted. It is so easy to be loved and adored by fans as it is easy to be dropped by the same fans when your mistakes plays out before them while you struggle to keep it together. This is why the team behind her needs to be the strongest support system that she would need from now on. Haven't witnessed her vulnerability, they need to look out for situations that may be volatile and try to protect her from it while she also works on herself and growth as a human.  

By the time this season of Big Brother Naija show with popular hash tag #BBNaija comes to a close, the fans of the show and especially Erica's fans remain curios as to what would become of the steamy romance that was candled in the Big Brother's house with another contestant and billionaire son of Terry Waya, Kiddwaya. 

The question remains what would things be like for them after the show? 

So much interest in their romance in the house was generated coupled with the many ups and downs that they went through trying to make things work between them. Noticeably, through out her stay on the show, they were both not able to stay away from each other despite the many issues and break up they had. Many are curios what would become of the situationship/frienship as they called it between her and Kuddwaya after the show. What the outside world, which is much more challenging holds for the two of them remains to be seen. To be or not to be, that remains the question as the show gradually winds down.