Makosi Musambasi

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Makosi in the Big Brother house

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Makosi Musambasi (born 24 September 1980) is a registered cardiac nurse, who worked in a coronary care unit, originally from Zimbabwe but now living in High Wycombe. Makosi shot to stardom when she appeared as a contestant during the sixth series of the reality television series Big Brother. Makosi was popular with the public and housemates alike during the first few weeks of her stay in the house but this popularity with the public was short lived. Makosi was branded a 'liar' and the words 'off! off! off!' were even shouted out by the crowd during her post-eviction interview. Makosi now regularly appears in tabloid newspapers, often making wild allegations to remain in the public eye. Most recently Makosi was faced with deportation charges due to the fact that she violated her visa terms by entering the Big Brother house when she was required to work as a nurse. Even more recently Makosi was seen on late night ITV Play show playdate, desperately seeking a new man. Some have speculated that this may be an attempt to solve her current Visa problems, as previous contestant Kingsley attempted to do.

[edit] Makosi in Big Brother

Upon entrance to the Big Brother house Makosi accepted a secret mission by Big Brother in which she had to obtain the most negative nominations from her fellow housemates, with immunity from eviction as her reward. Makosi passed this secret mission and was therefore immune from the first eviction.

Makosi was at first very popular with the public and at one point was tipped by bookmakers to win the series. During week 2 when all the housemates faced eviction Makosi received the least amount of votes to evict, but her popularity rapidly declined, after she was involved in a sex scandal. During week 6 Makosi and fellow housemate Anthony Hutton allegedly had sexual intercourse in the house swimming pool, although the story differs depending on who is telling it. Anthony denies having sexual intercourse with Makosi, which was confirmed by Makosi at the time. Later her story drastically changed, as she claimed that she was 95% certain that she was pregnant with Anthony's baby and at one point requested a pregnancy test from Big Brother, hinting that she would name the baby 'Jacuzzi'. It was due to this lie and the others that followed that Makosi became increasingly unpopular with the public. Her popularity continued to decline when she was the subject of a story in The Sun during the final week which claimed that a talent agency had invoiced the producers of Big Brother for £609 for procuring her services. The Sun alleged that this proved she was in fact an actress rather than a genuine contestant. This was denied by Big Brother on the finale night, with the explanation that the money was paid to the talent agency (which does represent Makosi) for work relating to the supplementary show Big Brother's Big Mouth.

Makosi ultimately finished third with 8.9% of the vote and was in fact the last female to leave the house. Her interview with Davina McCall was poorly received, with the audience booing and shouting "liar" all the way through. As the interview neared its end, chants of "off, off, off" were yelled by the crowd. 450 viewers complained about the interview and Davina McCall's unusually harsh manner with Makosi to Channel 4 or Ofcom ^[1] Speaking of this matter, Makosi herself has admitted that she found the interview "distressing" and that she felt Davina had done nothing to support her when the crowd heckled her. When Anthony learned of the claims that Makosi had made regarding her being pregnant he dismissed them as being 'rubbish'. During an appearance on the BBLB reunion show, the host, Dermot O'Leary had to tell Anthony to calm down when he turned around and shouted to Makosi 'You are a liar!'.

[edit] After Big Brother

Since leaving the house, Makosi has spoken of her ill Mother, her regret of "having unprotected sex" with Anthony in the pool by admitting it was a bad example to the youth, especially being a nurse. As well as this, she is also due to attend an Edinburgh festival titled "I Had Sex On TV" to give a discussion on safe sex.

After the series ended, The Sun revealed that Makosi's former lover from before her appearance on Big Brother, with whom she had had unprotected sex, was HIV positive. Fearing that she (and possibly Anthony) may have contracted the disease, Makosi had herself tested. The result was negative.

In August 2005 the immigration services curtailed her visa as she had left her job as a cardiac nurse in order to appear on Big Brother. She appealed the ruling, claiming that she faced death if she returned to Zimbabwe. She retained the right to stay in the UK in November 2005. ^[2]

In March 2006, The People ran an article claiming that she had been working as a "prostitute", although only one client (a "well-known TV presenter" who couldn't be named) and two actual exchanges were mentioned in the article. These allegations were confirmed by Makosi, summarising her life at the time with the quote: "My life is disgusting and I feel so filthy."

These revelations resulted in her being axed from a number of 'celebrity' opportunities (and much needed financial assistance due to her debts) such as hosting July's African Achiever's Ceremony and featuring in the reality TV show Fantasy Island.^[3]. It also resulted in a much more serious situation with the Home Office who are currently appealing the decision allowing her to stay - with prostitution added to her list of activities, she now sits at the top of the Home Office hit list and faces new deportation charges. ^[4]

In June 2006 Makosi made the tabloids once again when she confessed to an alleged fling with the presenter and comedian, Russell Brand (the presenter of the Big Brother spin-off show BBBM). Makosi claimed she had a 6 week affair with the presenter in 2005, commenting that "He was an insatiable lover and, while he wasn't exactly well-endowed, he knew exactly what he was doing" ^[5]

In July 2006 she announced she was three months pregnant and was torn over whether to keep the child. ^[6] She admitted she no longer had any relationship with the child's father, could barely support herself and had no idea what she would do in the future. She summarised her BB experience with the following:

'"This time last year I had a job, friends and a great life. Now I have nothing. I really feel sorry for this year's Big Brother contestants. I wouldn't wish what I have gone through on my worst enemy."' ^[7]

On the 17th August 2006, it was reported in The Sun Newspaper that Makosi had claimed she had suffered a miscarrage.

On 3 December 2006 Makosi was a celebrity judge at the Miss East Africa UK contest at Heaven in London along with fellow ex-housemates Vanessa Layton-McIntosh and Kemal Shahin.