While the allure of reality television initially drew them in, the constant social media scrutiny and accountability demanded by social media proved to be overwhelming for some cast members. For Baby Gloria, she had already ‘exited’ twice – even before the show premiered last month – but on each of these occasions, both sides would reach a compromise and she would get back on board.
To her chagrin, the show gradually unmasked a side of Gloria that many never knew; the public had fallen for her innocent pretty face and PR machine, yet Kampala Creme showed her confrontational, aggressive and instigator side. Perhaps a shock even to herself, this third time around when she quit, the producers simply called her bluff.
Gloria went on to rant on social media, branding the show as fake, scripted, unreal… shocking the producers and the rest of the cast, and sparking a backlash online.
THAT SKYZ HOTEL SHOOTING
The Skyz hotel shooting is what birthed the mother of all problems between Gloria and the show’s producers. Interestingly, the two former happy boujee customer (Gloria) and boujee owner (Mami Deb) had willingly asked for this particular episode to make a truce on camera, following an earlier confrontation.
While Gloria’s bullying allegations on set cannot easily be dismissed, the allegation of being asked to cry on set is the most bizarre. So far, it is only in the Skyz hotel episode when she hosted Etania, Mami Deb and their entourage where Gloria appeared to shed tears. The Observer has had behind-the-scenes access to the production.
Like on all occasions, Gloria always came on set with her sister Jolly and her personal assistant, Jemimah. On set was also her photographer and his assistant, who would take pictures and videos for her social media pages, where she commands quite a huge following that skyrocketed with her Kampala Crème debut.
Her manager, Jonas was also almost a constant on set. In fact, of all the cast members, Gloria had the biggest entourage on set. For that Skyz shoot, even her mother was around for quite some time.
How brave of the directors to instruct her to cry with such a team around! “With an unwavering commitment, cooperation and profound sense of ownership, my team and I poured our hearts and souls into the [Kampala Creme] project. I was fiercely loyal, willing to invest every ounce of my being, even to the point of shedding tears if told to,” Gloria said in a statement.
“However, reality took an unexpected turn, shattering our initial hopes and dreams. Power dynamics, unappreciation, negative energies, conflicts, clashes and selfishness tainted the once vibrant atmosphere, creating an unhealthy work environment mixed with mental health trauma, disrespect and favouritism. Our once harmonious relationship with production became compromised, forever altering the dynamics.”
Right from the onset, the producers of the show made it clear they did not want to have destroyed brands and personas after the show’s 13 episodes; so, the viewers would never get to see the true realism of Kampala Creme.
The raw drama, fights and backstabbing off-set is nearly 10-fold what is being shown. If all this was being shown in its rawness, your view of your favourite celebrity would drastically change. As for the ugly confrontation between Mami Deb and Gloria that unfolded at Skyz, ho! story for another day.
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