I’m ready to give marriage second shot — Iyabo Ojo
Several years after she divorced her first husband, actress Iyabo Ojo says she is ready to remarry.
Earlier in November, the actress, who starred in the Real Housewives of Lagos reality show, hinted at a possible relationship with a mystery lover on her Instagram page.
She credited him for her glowing skin and happiness, saying that an Igbo man had captured her heart.
In an Interview at the ‘Palava’ movie premiere at The Jewel Aida, Lekki, on Sunday, the mother-of-two, confirmed she is in a relationship and would remarry.
The actress, whom Bimbo Akintola introduced to acting after she joined the Actor’s Guild of Nigeria in 1998, said, “Yes, I’m willing to give marriage a shot; yes, I am in love. There is an Igbo man in the corner stealing my heart away.”
Iyabo married Ademidun Ojo, a clearing and forwarding agent operating at Tincan Island, Lagos, in 1999, when she was 21 and took a break from pursuing her acting career almost immediately. She welcomed a son, Felix and then a daughter, Priscilla, in 1999 and 2001.
She divorced their father, who now lives in New Jersey, U.S., in 2001. She attributed the breakup of her first marriage to marrying at an early age.
When asked about her new lover’s identity, she refused to divulge that information.
Regarding the secret of her beauty, she said, “It’s God; I try to keep my soul happy, I try to keep my soul happy, work on my body, make sure that I do a love exercise, take a lot of water, you know and just take care of my skin. Everything that has to do with a beauty routine.”
Evolving career
Iyabo’s first English-speaking movie role was in Basorge Tariah Jnr’s 1998 movie, ‘Satanic’. She starred alongside Keppy Ekpeyong and Bimbo Akintola.
She delved fully into the Yoruba movie industry in 2002. Her first Yoruba film feature was ‘Baba Darijinwon’ produced by Yinka Quadri.
Iyabo, who is part of the ‘Palava’ movie cast, gave a snippet of her role in the movie.
She said: “I was a very naughty character in this movie, as usual, but I’m not in real life.”
“I was more like a gold digger, desperate for things. You know you must see the movie to understand what I’m talking about”.
Speaking on her projects, she said “Next year, Hopefully, we’re going to be back with the Real Housewives of Lagos, season two, we’re going to be filming that takes a lot of my time. But I also will be producing my movie. We’re trying to do “The return of Arinzo.”
“We’re trying to bring Arinzo back; we’re working on it already, and I also want to start shooting some series, you know, that will be going on my YouTube channel, you know, for my fans and also to support a lot of upcoming actors you know, I’m gonna be using more of upcoming actors on this one.”
Speaking on the divide between the Nollywood and Yoruba movie industry, she said she doesn’t believe such exists.
“You know, I don’t think we’re divided. I’ve always said we’re all one Nollywood. We probably might speak different languages to interpret roles, but we’re all telling African stories at the end of the day.”
“We are all Africans, we are all Nigerians, so I don’t see us as divided. It is probably the fans and the audience that do that, but I, as an actor, don’t see that,’’ she noted.
