Reality TV relationships never really become Disney tales. This year’s edition of BBNaija has given us many gifts, not least of all, the simmering relationship between Teddy A and Bam Bam, two of the show’s standout contestants.On the show, the two were largely inseparable: BamBam playing the lovelorn lady was perfect against the backdrop of the dark, weatherworn, brooding yet flamboyant Teddy seemed like a love story written in Ultima Studios.You might have to check out Chidumga’s thoughts on why it happened but since the two were evicted, they’ve been doing media rounds and feeding fans with selfies and cuddles as Nigerian pop culture’s most in-form couple. If you’ve noticed any different in how the two interact, either from their body language during interviews or what you can concisely define as Bam-Bam’s eagerness, it’s because the outside world is different from Big Brother’s House and Public opinion is much stronger than Cee-C’s games.In and Out, Big Brother HouseEither person has obligations on the outside that they’ve skirted and ignored while in South Africa. Pressure, family and an unconfirmed girlfriend will influence how things go from here on out, which is why you guys really shouldn’t be surprised when BamBam and Teddy A eventually break up.ALSO READ: BamBam and Teddy A on what’s next for their relationshipWe all love a love story, one made before our very eyes is only better, and Teddy A and BamBam have gathered a wide following on that basis.A major part of the allure is also that it fits the almost stereotypical image of a good girl capturing a bad boy’s heart, as it would be hard to convince most Nigerians that Teddy A doesn’t have stories as vivid and dark as Tupac Shakur.It makes it almost impossible to see this as anything more than a fortunate love story but one only needs to understand why the two got on the show in the first place: publicity and money.One of my favourite colleagues is a die-hard fan of #BamTeddy as they’ve come to be known.While talking about her absence with another colleague, the discussion moved to the subject of Teddy A and Bam Bam.“Teddy A is an old boy in this game. He’s only going to invest in this relationship for as long as it’s bigger than him or Bam Bam as a single entity”, I said. Here’s what I meant.Check the statistics As a couple within the Big Brother house, the relationship between the two was useful because it created an alliance and in such a social experiment, such bonds tend to form.On the outside, prior objectives become more important. For either of them, their careers and the jump they’d hoped to get from the show will be high on their list of priorities.They’re well loved as a couple, so it will be understandably hard for either of them to see the need to let go. But the moment it loses its pizzazz or becomes a scandal-spewing, boring pairing of two former reality show contestants, they’ll let go.There’s also the issue of BamBam’s obvious naivete.The other part of my conversation with my colleague? — “I just hope Bam Bam gets something out of this”.He said it. Not me.Call it ‘underestimating her’ or playing into a stereotype, BamBam does not wear the stripes that Teddy A does; not in thw wide variety of experiences that differentiate exposure from experience. You may choose to draw connections between this and the perception, from those who have seen BamBam with her love interest since they left the Big Brother House, that there is a sense of eagerness about her when her dreadlocking-wearing Pied Piper is in the room. Take interviews for instance: When asked a question, more often than not, she drops a politically correct, family-friendly answer before looking at Teddy A for his addendum.Of course, this is all lovely and what we perceive may be presumptuous but as it stands, it seems too much like the imbalance which reflected in patches during their Big Brother stint is becoming a bit more obvious as the days go by.We all love BamBam and her precociousness, the smile that could disarm a war pilot and that lovely diction but in a game of two, the more naive almost always loses.Ultimately, it’s up to the two of them.If numbers are anything to go by, reality show relationships never last longer than the show themselves but like Elikem and Pokello showed us for the better part of 5 years, there are exceptions.Everybody wants BamTrddy to win but when it does happen and the two eventually let each other go, let’s not act like the world has ended, please.Africa is splitting in two. Nigeria is very insecure. There are more important things to worry about.
