The hate I've received is funny - evicted BBNaija housemate Eric Oshiokhai

Newly evicted housemate, Eric Oshiokhai stood out for most due to his towering height and muscular physique.

However, towards the end of his stay in the house, fans' interest waned for a number of reasons. Foremost was the reality star's entanglement with now evicted housemate, Lilo.

The pair had kicked things off shortly after the new season debuted. The cameras caught them constantly cuddled up away from other housemates. Events took a sad twist for the lovebirds when Lilo, who was the first of the pair to be evicted, got out of the house and granted interviews terming the relationship as a distraction.

Pulse recently caught up with Eric who shared his angle to the story. The boisterous six-foot-plus gym enthusiast had with him a large-sized slice of Pizza, a humorous move that set the mood for the interview.

Food for Eric means serious business even at the expense of hate from fans. Interestingly, his enormous consumption of food was a strategy. According to the reality star, he had gone in to showcase himself and his ability to turn fat to muscles.

"My strategy was to sell myself so if you watch the show, you will see me a lot without my shirt to show people that I put in a lot of work into my body and to show them that this is what I do - I transform people's bodies from what it was to what it can be".

So, the negative reactions to his excessive meal rounds had him pleasantly amused.

"I didn't even eat as much as I used to. So, it's like these people don't even know what they are saying," Eric said.

For viewers of the ongoing season of Big Brother Naija, news of Lilo's reaction to their moment in the house is no news but Eric still appeared confused by it all. While insisting he needed to speak with her first, he denied ever playing her as previously assumed.

"I haven't seen any of Lilo's comment ... I don't understand what she meant so I have to talk to her first. In the house, I felt like we had a connection, a deep connection".

Barely 24 hours after Lilo's eviction, Eric was caught on camera telling a housemate that he had to change strategy. In the days leading to his eviction, the former housemate desperately tried to build something with Wathoni.

Unfortunately, his Wathoni move not only earned him the disdain of critics but also fueled the narrative that his moments with Lilo was just another strategy.

"It wasn't a strategy to me but the fact that we were together, people would have seen it as a strategy but she was more than that", Eric said. "So when she left, obviously, cause I spent most of my time with her, so I had to change my game cause she wasn't there anymore so I had to interact more with the other housemates. That was what I meant when I said I had to change the strategy if I wanted to last longer".

"I felt like it was something that would have grown further outside the house but coming out now, I just feel like we need to talk more. So, you could call it a relationship inside the house, but outside, we need to talk about it".

With Wathoni, Eric admits she ticked all his boxes but the age difference.

"From the first day I was in the house, I told Wathoni already that she was my spec but because of our age difference, I couldn't have anything serious... at the end of the day, when Lilo left, I felt I could get closer to Wathoni as friends".

Away from his entanglements, the future will take an upward trajectory. Having satisfactorily sold himself on the Big Brother Naija platform, Eric says he plans to actively grow his body building outfit.