After 10 weeks of intense drama and intrigues, Kingsley ‘Kellyrae’ Sule has been crowned the ultimate winner of Big Brother Naija season 9, which ended on Sunday, October 6, 2024.
Kellyrae beat Wanni Danbaki, who emerged the 1st runner-up and Onyeka, the 2nd runner-up. As the ultimate winner of the reality show, the professional singer, who hails from Delta State, went home with N100 million worth of prizes, consisting of N60 million cash and brand new SUV.
In a season that had the housemates come in as pairs, Kellyrae chose his newlywed wife, Kassia, as his other half. This marked the first time a married couple will emerge as contestants on the show.
Married barely seven months before the show, not a few had suggested that the stay of Kellyrae and Kassia in the BBNaija house would ruin their marriage, which was in its early stage.
However, the couple’s strategy was hiding their marriage from fellow housemates and pretending to be ‘besties’. Even, a housemate, Toby Forge, had professed love to Kassia, who amusedly entertained his advances but set boundaries. It was only a week to the end of the show that the couple revealed their true marital status to the other housemates.
At the finale, Kellyrae told Ebuka Obi-Uchendu, the host, that he and his wife had broken the jinx of couples failing to progress on the show. “I’m happy my wife and I have broken a record of couples not going far on this show,” he said.