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| Entertainment |
| Reality show star mesmerises Malawi’s capital |
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by
George Ntonya, 26 March 2004
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12:28:29
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Gaetano Kagwa from Uganda may have disappointed some youths and culturally-conservative adults because of his sex exploits with South African Abby Plaatjies during their stay in the Big Brother Africa (BBA) house, but his stay in Lilongwe City proved that he is a darling of many.
Gaetano and four other former BBA housemates arrived in the country Monday evening for a short visit to join their colleague Zein Dudha in the campaign against HIV/Aids. And wherever the celebrities went, Gaetano appeared to be a toast, particularly to outgoing youths.
Although some of them expressed dissenting views over Gaetano’s behaviour in the BBA house last year, they hugged him, yelled his name out and jostled among themselves to shake his hand or pose for photos with him.
“I love Gaetano,” some young girls could be heard saying. “He is a nice guy,” they remarked.
And, like his colleagues, he had hundreds of pictures taken together with different youths and adults. The excitement among the youth in Lilongwe climaxed Tuesday afternoon when the housemates attended a concert at Kamuzu Institute of Youth where Gaetano – wearing a white T-shirt with HIV/Aids messages, a khaki trousers and blue-and-white pair of sports shoes, mesmerised them with acrobatic dance antics.
He even pulled a primary school girl — sporting a blue and white uniform — for a few steps on the stage after he had been asked to present a prize to the girl for correctly answering a quiz question.
Gaetano and Abby fell head over heels for each other in the BBA house and did what many socially conservative Africans say is immoral – having sex on TV camera.
Youths at the concert referred to this matter when they were allowed to ask the celebrities questions at the concert. But Warona Setswaelo from Botswana and Mwisho Mwampamba from Tanzania defended their colleagues.
“A reality show is not completely real. They can put all sorts of things together. We are responsible people. We would not be here preaching responsibility if we were not responsible people,” Warona said at Kamuzu Institute of Youth during the question time.
Mwisho had told another group of youths earlier that the celebrities were bound to make mistakes like any person. He said it was important for the youths to heed the advice that they abstain from sex.
Gaetano and Abby confirmed separately they were still intimate. “It’s OK. We are still a couple,” said Abby when asked to describe her relationship with Gaetano.
“We are still very good friends. We talk to each other all the time and we are happy when we see each other. Our relationship is still going on strong,” Gaetano said. |
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