BBNaija All-Stars: How Gen Z baddie Ilebaye snagged N120 million with pity, victim votes

On Nigeria’s 63rd Independence Day celebration, which fell on Sunday, October 1, BBNaija All Stars housemate, Ilebaye, achieved a momentous victory as she was crowned the winner of the immensely popular reality show.

Ilebaye Precious Odiniya, who was the youngest participant of Season 8, emerged victorious, clinching the grand prize of N120 million and additional rewards.

Her triumph came after securing an impressive 30.08% of the votes, while Mercy, the first runner-up, trailed with 23.48%.


It’s a well-known fact that participants in the BBNaija show typically entered the House with a strategic approach to navigate the competition and potentially secure victory.

These strategies are often adjusted based on the dynamics and twists introduced during the show.


Similar to other contestants who employed various tactics to vie for the grand prize, there were suggestions that Ilebaye’s approach involved appealing to viewers’ emotions by portraying a sense of pity to garner their votes.

A good number of Baye’s fellow housemates accused her of ‘strategically playing the victim card’


Before Ike’s eviction after one of their usual Saturday night rave, he was seen engaged in a conversation with her ex-lover and housemate, Mercy where they discussed various housemates and their potential outcomes in the game.

The conversation shed light on Ike’s insights into the game and the dynamics of each individual housemate.

After analysing other housemates’ game plans, when he got to Ilebaye’s, Ike underscored she wouldn’t be evicted thus, delving deeper into the matter.

He suggested the 22-year-old participant was intentionally playing the victim card to garner sympathy from the audience.

He explained further by mentioning an incident where Ilebaye accused him of bullying her, insinuating that may have been a well-calculated move on her part.

Whitemoney, who felt Ilebaye was disturbing the peace of the house turned down the volume of the sound system but Ilebaye made sure she increased it almost immediately, leading to a heated argument between them.

While having a conversation with Cross, Neo, and Doyin, Whitemoney after his brawl with Ilebaye over the volume of music said she was being strategic and playing her game well.


They all seemed to agree that she was intentionally playing the victim, so as to win the sympathy of voters.

On his part, Cross also stated that he felt manipulated by Ilebaye.

Doyin, before her exit, accused her former friend Ilebaye of ‘fooling’ everyone by strategically playing the victim card to secure the favour of the viewers and ultimately win the grand prize.

She hinted this to Cross after the above-mentioned altercation between Whitemoney and Ilebaye which culminated in the latter shedding tears.

According to Doyin: “Ilebaye has been playing a game. Watch her videos from the Level Up season; she’s not the same person. When I realised her game, I felt so stupid.

“But it’s too late; the viewers would have given the money to her. Whitemoney was the first person to tell it to me, but I called it a bluff. We’ve all been fooled.”

When TBaj evicted the show, she didn’t categorically mention Ilebaye but explained one needed to play the pity card in order to win the reality show.

Albeit she noted that could never be her because she never wanted to be seen as a victim adding, “It’s not my character to want people to pity me.”

Apparently, whatever trick or game plan Ilebaye, who was evicted in the third week during her first appearance in the “Level Up” edition, had up her sleeves this time, worked eventually.

After 70 days in Biggie’s house with 23 housemates, including four introduced house guests, the Gen Z baddies as she’s fondly referred to was declared the winner of the reality TV show’s eighth edition.