A few days ago,one of the most popular and prominent members or Nairobi Diaries,a reality show about the fast life of a bunch of high-flying Nairobi women made a startling announcement ; she was leaving the show,barely three months after it’s pompous launch.
Vera Sidika,using the moniker Miss Vee on the show,took to Snapchat to shoot down the show,decry the show’s production and script and call the directors out for constantly creating conflict and a dark,violent script that was,consistently,going against her plans and morals.
Ever since the show started,many keen Kenyans noticed that this wasn’t a REALITY show as such… But a cleverly calculated manipulation of events and incidences purposely created to cause excitement,anticipation,curiosity and shock among viewers.
A keen fan of the show would notice that the producers,Ruth Mwende and Brian Joseph,working closely with the Mwaludas,who are the show’s creative directors,had a penchant for sleaze,excessive drama,outbursts,violent confrontations and angry flare-ups.
In an exclusive interview with Ghafla,a Nairobi Diaries insider told us,
‘Pendo is lying. She claims there is NO script and yet there is. We always have a script to follow… Many times we’ve fought over the scripting,over how we’ve been characterized and over how our image has continuously been eroded in the public eye… But the directors and producers don’t care. They’re innit for the long haul… We are forced to do things we otherwise wouldn’t do. Even when drunk or stoned… ‘
For instance,the show has consistently depicted Pendo as the the wild,irritable crazy bitch,Getrude as the bossy,self-conceited trouble maker, Vera as the object of envy and the Centre of attention,Ella as the demure,easily-hurt princess,Marjolein as the classy, aloof friend,Sylvia as the silent,genial style guru and Kiki as the busy,educated career freak.
‘And that’s not necessarily the case… ‘the source goes on.’ Ella is far from the good girl she is depicted as… Vera is also domineering,manipulative… Vera almost always wants the show to be shot at her apartment,she loves to have the cameras enter her home… She loves the scenes where there will be a little party at her living room…she’s deeply narcissistic and always wants to drive the show towards her home or her parties or her life… ‘
The show’s producers have constantly pitted Pendo against the rest of the crew,drafting a violent,machiavellian script full of dramatic face-offs,bust-ups,angry retorts and eventual physical altercations.
‘ Pendo relishes the script. No wonder she so vehemently defended it after Vera bailed out on the show’ the source continues, ‘Pendo is naturally uncouth,little-brained and Ghetto-oriented. She’s unschooled and she’s very normally uncivil. Therefore,she loves the scenes where she will get to fight her cast mates and kick them and spit at them. She loves to be the dramatic one… The one who shuts down a party by yelling herself around and splashing people with drinks… ‘
Also,after the show came under intense fire for boring plots,that’s when they started to ump the ante and to introduce more fights and more insults.
According to our source,the members have started hating the fact that they were increasingly getting coerced to trash-talk each other on direct camera,something they felt was not really productive for the show’s general chemistry amongst the cast.
‘Along with the script,our directors constantly tell us what to say about each other. I will,for instance,be told to trash talk Vera. Pendo will be told to talk shit about,say,Ella and Ella will be asked to cry or act wounded or something. Getrude loves the direct camera parts… She loves trash talking her cast mates and never questions a thing she’s told to do or say. No matter how damaging’
Molly,we were also told,is not really Vera’s friend. She’s basically some girl that’s an acquaintance to Vera and is not in Vera’s circle and has never been. All of this,we are told,is an act. To find a way to create conversation consistently.
‘Molly was expressly told to be Vera’s friend. And that was that. Sylvia was also ordered to be close to Vera. Even when she doesn’t like it. And the relationships you see on the screen were all engineered,none is true,we are usually asked to pick sides,pick friends and then sell the fake image to the public… ‘
Vera is said to have increasingly got sick of the endless negativity the show has started to be associated with.
‘ Vera is a former ratchet. She’s no longer ratchet now… And she increasingly feels like the show is too ratchet,the show depends too much on negativity,on sleaze and on dirt to survive. And it started killing her slowly. She would object,but no one cared. It was all about ratings and drama had to be created. ‘
For a show like that to survive,Trend on Twitter,garner high ratings and stay on air,there’s very little not to do. It’s usually open season for all manner of debauched behavior,extremist partying and shocking moments. And that’s what Nairobi Diaries has dangerously continued to leverage on..
People who watch Reality Shows,following the unfortunate example set by Hollywood,always expect some amount of drama and unexpected fights to break out. Hence the name Trash TV. A Reality Show without a generous does of squabbles and loud,expletive-filled shouting matches has no chances of survival.
‘We operate on a very strict script… A script full of fights and name-calling and set-ups. 20% of the script is about brunches,coffee dates and shopping sprees, the rest 80% of the script is geared towards a fight,towards a physical confrontation,towards revisiting old altercations with the intention of starting a new one based on the old one. It’s a really really depressing and wicked script… ‘
Also,there are issues about the salaries that the girls take home… Issues about the standardization of the pay and also the revision of the pay given the show’s steady rise in ratings.
‘ The drama you see on screen is nothing compared to the production drama you don’t see off screen… This is a show about a bunch of devious women out to be seen,be popular,be famous and be stars…
Our fights never end,the source adds.
‘I am particularly disturbed and against the amount of violence that we are forced to get into… It gets draining,it gets predictable and sickening at some point. But we have to fight we have to yell at each other and throw objects at each other. It’s the only way to pay our bills… However much we are opposed to the directors and producers.. ‘
Even hugely-successful Reality Shows like the Kardashians have openly discussed the fact that the show is scripted. Most of the scenes we see,involving Kris or Kim or Caitlyn Jenner are all scripted – But done in a very professional, subtle manner. A very smart way. You cannot easily tell what’s scripted and what’s not.
What Nairobi Diaries needs is a team of creative directors who are not so obviously daft,their plans will be seen through like a house of glass. The team needs smart directing that is not obvious to the eye that it is scripted.
Also,the Pendo and Getrude scenes are some of the most obnoxious ones and some of the biggest reason why viewers are increasingly shunning the TV show in favor of sleep or masturbation.
‘This is a new show of its kind in Kenya.. So obviously, there will be challenges,’ Wangui Mwangi,a blogger, says.
‘But the directors of this show need to move it from the extreme trash it has sank into… To an entertaining show that is still classy,inspiring,not too dramatic,less confrontational and with less scripting and more real scenes,real raw scenes…. ‘
Well… Goodbye Miss Vee. You were never going to survive in that bloody hell of a cave anyway.
