Recently evicted Big Brother Mzansi housemate Liema still stands by her move of volunteering to exit the 24/7 reality TV competition despite garnering a solid fan base. 

Born Liema Phantsi, the 22-year-old student and part-time bartender from Qonce in the Eastern Cape shocked viewers last week when she chose to walk away with R250,000 that she won during a game on the show as opposed to the R2m grand prize. 

Liema’s exit was announced alongside Willy, who was considered as one of the most strategic housemates to blaze their trail in the mansion. 

Days leading up to Sunday's eviction night, Liema expressed she was going through a series of emotions but she finally got to a point of retrospect and grew confidence in what she was doing. 

“I’m in a good space… at first I was kind of skeptical of the decision that I made based on what was imposed on me, but I’m glad to say I made the right decision,” the singer-songwriter reassured. 

“One would say it was God who was also in charge because I didn’t hear the rules ... I just pressed the buzzer and my fate was decided, so I can’t regret that. 

“My biggest takeaway from being on the show is that with the many personalities in the house, I learnt not to dim my light, and how much my voice matters. I learnt what people skills are and what communication is. One key lesson was learning not to react to everything everyone says about you.”

The aspiring beauty mogul shared that her biggest highlight was when her aunt got a chance to visit the Big Brother house – a memory she shall cherish forever. “It touches my heart that I was able to make that a reality for my aunt. She’s always been an avid fan of the show and to see how excited she was being in the house...” said the up-and-coming musician. 

“The biggest misconception is that I have anger issues and I don’t. The thing is, I’m super-sensitive and I don’t like it when people come at me differently, hence I always confront the situation but instead people see it as me being angry or fighting.”

When asked what she plans to do with the R250,000 that she won over the chance of being this season’s title winner, Liema revealed that she plans to invest it into her music career and skincare business. 

“This is not the last that people see of me. I plan to release an EP with fire songs… I hope to become a trailblazer in the South African music scene.” 

Much like Liema, Willy wasn’t shocked to be eliminated last on Sunday night as he was baffled at how long he managed to stay in the competition.

“Surprisingly I’m proud of myself… I didn't expect to be in the house for nine weeks. When I first came into the house I didn’t know what to expect because it was my first time but to my surprise, I was able to adapt and get in tune with everything that came my way,” said the 24-year-old from Ga-Rankuwa, northeast of Pretoria. 

“Being in the house is like playing mind games. Every time something that came as a shock to me, somehow I knew how to navigate and manoeuvre around it – seeing myself being able to do something like that I would say it’s quite an achievement to who I am.” 

Real name Wilfred Thathane, Willy wasn’t aware he was suffering from impostor syndrome until he was tasked with different activities that unleashed his true potential. 

“I thought I was competing against people who are better than me, but funny enough I kept winning all the games. So I’d often go to my corner and analyse by asking myself: ‘Am I sleeping on myself or what is happening?’… I can’t keep winning like this,” he said. 

“Another thing that came as a surprise was being able to do things I didn’t think I would be able to do like cooking, acting, painting and conceptualising an advert.  So, I’m glad I took that leap of joining this Big Brother because now I know who I am.”