February 13, (THEWILL) – the spirit of St Valentine’s Day, SHADE METIBOGUN writes on Nigerian celebrities who still enjoy marital bliss despite being married across cultural and ethnic divides
Ufuoma McDermott
Dark-complexioned Nollywood actress, Ufoma McDermott and her Scottish husband, Steven McDermott, who is an advertising executive, have been married for 11 years. Ufuoma met him while filming Everything it Takes, a television series produced by Wale Adenuga.
Steven had accompanied a friend to the set of the series when they both locked eyes. They soon became friends and two years after, started dating. Steven flew her to Cape Town where he was filming a television commercial and proposed to her. The two got married on April 23, 2010 and they are blessed with two children, a son, Isio Jared McDermott, who was born in 2012 and a daughter, Kesiena Alize McDermott, born in August 2015.
Uche Jombo-Rodriguez
Actress Uche Jumbo found love in the arms of Kenney Rodriguez, a Puerto Rican. The two met through a mutual friend while Uche was an ambassador of telecommunication firm, Globacom. Kenney wanted to strike a business deal with the actress because he was also running a communication business in the United States. He became fascinated with her after realising that she was not only hardworking but also had a deep passion for her acting career. They eventually got married in May, 2012 on a private beach in Puerto Rico. So private was the wedding that the media never got a whiff of it until the pictures surfaced a few days after the ceremony. Three years later, they both welcomed their son, Matthew Kenney Chinedu Rodriguez.
Like most marriages, theirs has not been a bed of roses. Their union has been threatened. In 2017, Kenney was accused of cheating on his wife with another woman. They shared some loved up pictures and he reportedly took her to his matrimonial home. It was later discovered that the unnamed woman was Kenney’s ex -lover and the pictures were taken when they were still dating, long before Kenney married the Nollywood star. Uche and her husband overcame the storm, but she ensured that her husband’s pictures were never shared on social media again.
Feb Idahosa
For Bishop Feb Idahosa, son of late televangelist Archbishop Benson Idahosa, it was love at first sight with his wife, Laurie Whetstone who is from Delaware, USA. They met as teenagers in Benin City, Edo State. Their fathers, Archbishop Benson Idahosa and Gary Whetstone were friends. Despite the fact that they were teenagers, they shared an inexplicable connection that continued to grow till Feb proposed to Laurie in 2001. They got married the following year.
One of the toughest challenges the couple had was procreation. They struggled through years of childlessness and had to undergo four In vitro fertilisation processes that were unsuccessful. When God smiled on them and one of the IVF’s eventually became successful, they lost the baby a few hours after he was born. However, in 2007, Laurie conceived naturally, contrary to doctor’s report that she and her husband were 99.9 per cent infertile. Their second son, Feb Jr. was born in July 2008. They tried another IVF again and it failed, but she conceived naturally again in 2011 and had their third son, Nathaniel Benson Idahosa in November, 2011. Their fourth son, Judah Benson Idahosa was born in January 2013.
Elvi Kioupouroglou
She is an entrepreneur married to a Greek named Danny, who is the General Manager of Eko Hotels and Suites. They have been happily married for 13 years. They met and started dating in 2007 and a year later, held their traditional and white weddings.
They met while he was at work and both of them knew instantly that they would end up together. While Elvi hinges her reason on settling for him to his smartness, treating her like a queen and sharing the same morals with him, Danny says it was relatively easy to fall in love with her due to her personality. On how he proposed, Elvi had gone to his house to make dinner one day. After eating and while she was clearing the dishes, he went on one knee and proposed right by the kitchen sink without a ring. They are blessed with three children.
Karen Igho Rakos
Winner of the season six edition of the now rested Big Brother Africa Reality TV Show, Karen Igho-Rakos, also found love across borders. The controversial actress found love in a European, Yaroslav Rakos. She got married in a private traditional wedding in Jos Plateau State on December 14, 2014. The wedding was hosted by one of her friends, Denrele Edun. The two met in a Nigerian restaurant in London during Karen’s summer vacation in 2005. They instantly became friends.
They were together for nine years before they made their relationship official. The couple has two adorable children and they are living happily in the United States.
John Njamah
Nollywood actor cum director, John Njamah married his Cameroonian lover, Angwin Tangi in 2016. The two met in 2014 during a media conference in Cameroon. The actor was one of the facilitators at the conference where he set eyes on Angwin who was a journalist. They dated for one year and decided to make their relationship official in both a civil and traditional marriage in Bamenda, Cameroon. John and his beautiful wife are blessed with a baby girl, Adamma Ziorah Njamah.
Shina Adeleke 
Talented music act, Shina Adeleke, also known as Sina Rambo, is married to a German-born model, Heidi Dagmar Korth. This is despite the fact that she is a single mother of one. The two met while the singer was still based in the United States before relocating to Nigeria to pursue his music career. They dated for a while before the singer proposed to her. They had both their civil and traditional marriage in October and November 2021 respectively in Lagos State.
Rebecca Akosua Acheampong
Talented Ghanaian singer, Rebecca Acheampong, professionally known as Becca, did not travel too far from home to find love. She found love in Nigeria and she has been living her best life ever with her husband of four years, entertainment executive Tobi Sanni Daniel, who she met over a decade ago. Tobi proposed to Becca at Central Park, New York City in 2015 and in 2018, they got married in a very private ceremony that was a fusion of Ghanaian and Nigerian culture. The singer was severely criticised for neglecting Ghanaians to find love in the arms of a Nigerian, but that has not in any way affected their love for each other.
Ashionye Carl Raccah
Singer turned actress, Ashionye Carl Raccah, is also married to a non-Nigerian, a British national named Carl Raccah. What has made their marriage easy is because her husband grew up partly in Nigeria and can speak Hausa fluently. He also understands the Nigeria culture, traditions and values very well. The two met many years ago in 2001 at the office of the then Managing Director of MTN Nigeria.
The actress was instantly attracted to Carl’s long hair which was up to his waist. They got along well and became friends. By the end of that year, they started dating. Carl managed Ashionye’s music career for a while before she ventured into the movie industry. They broke up after a few years and each person went their separate ways. As providence would have it, they reunited and reignited their love affairs. Ashionye was checking his socks one day when she discovered a ring tucked inside of it. After showing her lover the ring, she encouraged him to propose since she had ruined the surprise proposal he had for her. Not too long after his proposal, the two got married in 2009. They are blessed with two adorable children, a boy and a girl and their union has continued waxing stronger by the day
Daniel Oyebanjo
Talented music act, Oladapo Daniel Oyebanjo, professionally known as D’banj, is married to Lineo Didi Kilgrow who is of mixed parentage. Her father is American, while her mother is partly South African and Nigerian. She was born in the United States, but grew up in Jos, Plateau State. That is why most people assume she is a Nigerian. She also had her education in Jos and Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory. The two have succeeded in keeping their marriage away from prying eyes. Even when they were dating, not much was known about their relationship until they got married in June 2016. Their marriage was tested after they lost their first son. He was just a year-old. He drowned in a swimming pool in the singer’s home in Ikoyi. The loss was a big blow to D’banj and his wife who couldn’t get over it on time. Providence smiled on them again in 2019 and they had another son whom they christened Zane. Another baby was added to the family in 2021.
Additional information by Ivory Ukonu
