Ultimate Love: How reality show gave love a new story

…As Roskie emerge as the ultimate couple

First of its kind dating reality show ‘Ultimate Love’ came to an end on Sunday with fans two favorite couple Roskie and IykeResa making it to final stage and the emergence of Roskie (Rosie & Kachi) as the ultimate couple of the seasonal first edition of the show as organized and packaged by leading content provider, Multichoice Nigeria owners of DSTV and Gotv.

Rosie, a primary school teacher and Kachi, an entrepreneur, walked away with a cash prize of N5.150 million, gifts, N10 million sponsored traditional wedding and a house if they eventually get married.

However, the prize came with a clause, there has to be a commitment from the couple on the live show and a proposal within the first 90 days. To this end, Kachi popped the question to Rosie at the live finale show on Sunday night, and she said yes.
A breakdown of how the ultimate couple emerged

The reality show

Premiered on Feburary 9, 2020, the reality show Ultimate Love centers on finding love for those who can’t but drool about the idea o falling hopelessly in love. ‘Ultimate Love’ will see 16 housemates consisting single men and women living together in the ‘Love Residence’ for eight weeks. These guys are expected to find love during the show’s run.

The love guests

The love guests selection I believe would have been a tough one for the organizers knowing the Nigerian factor that everyone wants to find love and as such settle down to raise a family; so the choice of the love guests ranged from Medical Doctors, Media personality, School teacher, Entertainer, Entrepreneur amongst others seeing the likes of Arnold, Kachi, Ike, Cherry, Bolanle, Rosie, Theresa, Chris, Nkechi, Obi to mention but few grace the screen.

The love Pad

From the first visit to the love Pad, it depict preparedness on the part of the organizers with the beautiful design of the residence that already set the tone of love ahead of the arrival of the love guests.

The all new house was luxuriously decorated, with mood lights, paintings, artworks and graffiti to set the mood for the show. There was also a chartroom, a ‘therapy’ room (To be used by Auntie when guiding the couples), and an open glass booth which we were told would be used by the guests to confer with their chosen relatives, exes etc

Hosts choice

The choice of Oluwaseun P and talented Nollywood screen diva, Dakore Egbuson-Akande as the show host was one good things the organizers put in check; their chemistry all through show was magnificent and commendable making us anticipate every weekend for the live show (Check-Out)

One host that will never be forgotten is the Aunty of the house, Adesuwa Onyenokwe who helped in discovering hidden talents of the love guest acting as the mother figure most especially during her private time with the love guests. We sure need her back for the second edition of the reality show.

Let the show begin

The first few days were characterized by speed dates where the love guests were tasked to know much about one another, forge relationships, complete challenges set out for them and ultimately pursue a choice partner for a celebrity wedding.

After the speed dating exercise, couples emerged, which signaled the beginning of an intriguing season. In the cause of the show and after the pairing stage, hearts were shattered while others believed they have chosen their better half; couples names like Jaykech, Roskie, IykeResa , Bolar, Double Chris, ObiEbi, Micherry amongst others came up.

However, each week, viewers got to decide on their favourite contestants/couple. The nominations, done by love guests where each couple was required to select two other couples to be checked out, brought a lot of drama and misgivings in the love pad.

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The couple with the highest number of nominations thus became up for evictions. Two couples with lowest nominations in the check out list were offered redemption via a Monday morning challenge, after which ‘Aunty’ would save the more deserving of the two. At the end of the week, the contestants with the least votes were evicted from the show.

The unexpected Drama

Although there were few dramas during the show that kept viewers glued to the screen but two noticeable one was the couple pairing stage when Rosie has thought she would be paired with David having developed interest and the Arnold Ex saga that nearly destroyed Bolarship

On the part of the organisers

The Chief executive officer, MultiChoice Nigeria, John Ugbe, while talking about the reason for the show, said, “Reality TV shows are immensely popular because they showcase real people experiencing real life happenings and situations, thus connecting with viewers and fans on a personal and relatable level.

“There are fewer things realer than love, and Ultimate Love, our new and exciting reality show, celebrates this. We are excited to have developed this new reality TV format which further reiterates our position as Africa’s biggest storyteller and custodians of premium and quality entertainment in Africa.

Our viewers can always expect the very best production values and a show experience unlike anything ever seen on African television,” he added.

Indeed Multichoice secured a 100% in this very season in depicting love story the Naija way but however there is still room for improvement in other seasons ahead.