Big Brother Naija returned yesterday with 20 former housemates accepting his challenge to take one more run in the Biggieverse. As is the show’s tradition, the housemates had to compete in a special game to decide who would lead the house for the week.

This competition is critical as the winner gets bragging rights as the first-ever All-Stars HOH, immunity, and his private lounge.

After five gruelling hours of playing the game of diversion and memory individually, Adekunle Olopade, popularly known as Bad Boy Deks, won the title with just 12 seconds on the clock. At the start of the HOH contest, Biggie announced that he would call the housemates into the arena one at a time. Whoever finishes the game fastest will be the week’s head of house.

Each housemate had 60 seconds to open 20 boxes filled with ten different items (two of each) and ten envelopes filled with pictures of the ten items arranged in the boxes. After opening each box, they memorized its content and noted which containers had identical items underneath them. After the first round, Biggie played any song of his choice, and the housemates danced for however long he chose.

The final round was the most important. When the music stopped, the housemates picked up an envelope from a basket with a picture of one of the items hidden in the boxes. They had to find the matching pair by opening the boxes one after the other. Biggie also warned that they can only open one box at a time. They are to close the box anytime they make a wrong guess while searching for the matching objects.

The game sounds interesting but isn’t as easy as it sounds. Uriel and Kiddwaya, who started the game, struggled to understand it, and Big Brother had to restart with clearer instructions.

After 16 housemates had taken a turn, Big Brother announced that the Head of House game would pause for a while, introducing the black envelope challenge. This brand-new challenge has the potential to grant at least one housemate immunity for the week’s nominations. The rule is simple – find the black envelope hidden in the house. One housemate can only have one envelope, but the search has to start after Biggie’s signal.

Some housemates flouted Biggie’s simple rule and began searching before the signal. So, Big Brother punished Kidwaya, Tolanibaj and Princess by disqualifying them from the game. Mercy and Frodd found the envelopes. While Mercy’s noted that she was immune from the week’s nomination, Frodd’s had a message to have better luck next time.

The HOH game continued after the Black Envelope game ended until Uriel and Kiddwaya rounded up the contest with their rematch. Afterwards, Big Brother announced that Alex, Ike, Cross, and Adekunle had the best time during the game, but Adekunle’s stood out with just 12 seconds. Hence, he earned the Head of House title and received the chance to choose four BFFs who would share his living quarters. Adekunle chose Seyi, Frodd, Cross, and Soma to be his BFFs for the week.

The HOH announcement led to the nominations. The housemates could only put up one person for possible eviction. Adekunle also won a nomination edge, allowing him to hear a secret. After nominating Princess, Big Brother told the HOH that they just went through a fake nomination process is fake and nobody is going home this week. He is not allowed to tell anyone.

Venita and Princess received the most nominations, with four nods each. Ilebaye received three, while Seyi and Doyin received two nominations. The housemates nominated Whitemoney, Tolanibaj, Pere, Soma, and Ike once. Big Brother extended Adekunle’s immunity to his chosen BFFs as part of his many twists. It means other housemates, excluding Adekunle, Seyi, Frodd, Cross, Soma, and Mercy, believe they are up for possible eviction.

Fans can breathe a collective sigh of relief as voting begins next week. Viewers can enjoy the show on the 24/7 channel – DStv ch. 198 and GOtv ch. 49. Remember, if you are away from home and don’t want to miss a minute of the action, you can catch up with your favourite All-Star housemates on the DStv app or Showmax.

Moniepoint Nigeria and HFM – forex and commodities broker – are the headline sponsors for the BBNaija All-Stars Edition.