Why are we hooked on reality shows?

Yesterday, Sunday, January 22, 2017,

It's going to be three months of shower hour, house duties, camera confessions and nerve wracking evictions.

Big Brother Naija seems to be off to a good start if yesterday's tweets were anything to go by. Millions of Nigerians sat in front of their TV sets as the new edition of the Big Brother franchise started after two years of hiatus.

Big Brother has always been a hit in Nigeria. We just love the show and maybe that's why we have won Big Brother Africa three times in a row.

An inquisitive mind might ask what makes Big Brother so successful? Why are millions of people drawn to 12 contestants cooped in a house for three months? What's the secret attraction?

As human beings, we are voyeuristic in nature. We take pleasure in seeing people out of their comfort zone and be stressed out.

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To these contestants, the Big Brother house feels cool now but after 30 days they will be fed up and that is when their true characters will come out. Millions of people will see them unravel and be distressed which is the fun part.

Society has told us that being nosey is a bad thing but if we all had the chance to see what goes on in our neighbours' flat we would. Deep down, many of us have this urge to peep through the curtain and see some of our neighbour's dark secrets. The reason why we don't do this is because we have been told that it is bad to be nosey from a young age.

Big Brother has allowed us to scratch this itch without being rude or bad neighbours. With cameras on them for 24/7, we see these contestants' most intimate and private moments without any backlash or guilt.

For three months, Nigerians and Africans would be voyeurs and will experience no guilt when watching these contestants.