BB3 was quite an experience - Hazel

MAUREEN ODUBENG
Staff Writer | Wednesday November 26, 2008 00:00

 

One such 'winner' is Malawi's Hazel Warren, who gave the winner stiff competition and finally emerged runner-up to Angola's Ricardo Venancio, who beat the Malawian by a slim margin.

The two tied when the votes were counted the normal way of using countries as one vote, which forced the auditors to use the actual number of votes, and compute a percentage of the actual votes across Africa.

Showbiz had an opportunity to chat with Hazel, one of the housemates hailed for being the most well-behaved in the house. Her reserved character is deceptive because she is far from being a bore.

While she did not get the actual prize money, Hazel told Showbiz that she already feels like a winner, the only difference being that she did not get the prize money.
She revealed to Showbiz that it was obvious that Africa wanted her to win, using the initial tie, but ultimately the small margin tilted the scale in Ricco's favour.

Hazel, with content in her voice, further explained that during her stay in the house, she never won any head of house tasks, meaning she never had an opportunity to save herself, and as such she landed in the hot seat of being up for possible eviction four times, but she survived all the time.

She noted that this gave her the impression that Africa did appreciate her presence in the house, explaining that to her that is enough.
Viewers and other people might think that giving up one's time for three months to take part in a competition, and leaving without taking the prize money is a waste of time, but Hazel is modest about that and does not see her time in the Big Brother House as a waste of time at all.

She is one of those who went into the house for the prize money but also looked at the bigger picture, that is the opportunities presented by being a part of the show. The show is, of course, accessible throughout Africa, a perfect opportunity for someone to showcase his or her talent.

In Hazel's case towards the end of the show, the four remaining housemates were given an opportunity to organise a wedding and coincidentally, Hazel operates a bridal business, and she of course got the opportunity to showcase how skilled she is as a wedding planner.

The wedding was spectacular, considering the limitations that are obvisious when planning a wedding in confined environment. Hazel told Showbiz that she did appreciate the exposure, admitting that the wedding gave her an opportunity to sell herself.
Some BBA3 fanatics often sent messages calling Hazel boring, but the young woman told Showbiz that she walked into the house without a strategy, as she wanted to be just herself.

'I felt that having a strategy might mess me up, so I just decided to enter the house to be myself and take it one day at a time,' she saidHazel said in that environment forced her to learn all the different characters, to know how to deal with them, and also to learn their strengths and weaknesses, for the purpose of being able to play the game well.She admitted that she is conservative, as she mentioned quite a few times in the house, relating that at no point was she tempted to comprise her values and morals, just to win the money.

'I wanted Africa to love me for who I am,' she said
She noted that she did not expect viewers to just take her word that she is conservative, explaining that she believes over time viewers got to know who she is, and of course Hazel credited her mother with raising her well to become the woman she is.
Hazel is adamant that taking part in the show will open new doors in terms of modelling opportunities.

While she currently does not have any children, Hazel said she would not discourage her child from going into BBA, explaining that there is nothing wrong with the show, its how one chooses to handle themselves while in the house.

Asked about her relationship with South Africa's Thamsanqa Prusent, Hazel simply said to her the relationship was not part of the game, but now that they are out of the house, it remains to be seen whether their friendship will continue. Hazel took some time to warm up to Thami's advances.

Hazel has been hailed for being one of the most well-behaved women in the BBA3 house. She is planning to go back to her job as a personal assistant, provided her employers keep the promise to hold her job open while she was in the house.