Angolan housemate Ricco Vernancio was declared winner of Big Brother Africa 3 after public voting across the continent. On Sunday November 23, amidst cheering fans and glittering confetti in an electric atmosphere, M-Net’s Big Brother Africa 3 came to a dramatic end after 91 days. In a two-hour live finale featuring performances by Jamaican superstars Brick and Lace, the 21-year-old from Luanda scooped the big prize, walking off with a hefty USD 100 000!

Ricco overcame Malawi’s Hazel Warren after the two were tied on votes based on the votes cast by number of participating countries and the rest of Africa. This meant that the tie had to be broken based on the number of votes accumulated by both housemates. Three housemates remained in the house until Sunday and they were Hazel, Ricco and Zimbabwe’s Munyaradzi Chidzonga. However Munya was the 10th housemate to be evicted leaving two housemates to compete for the grand prize.

Ricco, at a press conference held in Randburg today, sent a special thank you out to his online forum campaign team, RFC (Ricco for the Cash), who electioneered tirelessly on his behalf throughout the show. “I know I wouldn’t have gotten as far as I did without you guys,” he said. “I really appreciate it, I hope I can meet you guys one of these days,”