Nollywood actress, Lola Alao, who got married twice, says she has grown a thick skin because she is not a stranger to controversies.
By Eugene Onyeji
There is a price to pay for being famous and that includes always being in the news.
Marriage is a sacred institution ordained by God. All the same, it is enough to say that a lot of marriages have made headlines since the golden age of Nollywood when actresses began to see their names in lights and their private lives scrutinized by the media.
Some have made their marriages last, while some are not so lucky with their marriages. Some didn’t plan to be married more than once. It just happened and the beat goes on. Over time, these movie stars have made such a good job of parenting and their careers that they are now seen as sources of inspiration by thousands.
However, whether it was a simple friendly breakup or a messy parting of ways, these Nollywood notables have found a formula for keeping things together after re-marrying. Some of them are still as hot as fire. And today, they are still at it and waxing stronger than ever.
Here is a list of Nigerian Nollywood actresses who have been married at least twice:
1. Bukky Wright
Oluwabukola Sekinat Ajoke Wright, preferably called Bukky Wright, is a Nigerian actress who combines acting with business.
Bukky wright marital life has always been a subject of controversy as she is said to have been married five times. The Veteran Nollywood actress had previously been married to Gboyega Amu who is the father of her two sons. Shortly after separating from Amu, due to what she termed irreconcilable differences, she moved into the arms of fellow actor and one-time NNPC top shot and a member of the House of Representatives, Rotimi Makinde, without officially divorcing Gboyega Amu. The frontline Yoruba actress cum producer was accused of bigamy.
The union lasted a few years before she moved on in the same fashion and found solace in the arms of society journalist and image-maker, Femi Davies. Bukky and Femi got married at the Akodo Registry in Lagos.
The relationship ended after a few months, and she later got hitched with renowned music promoter, Bolaji Saheed a.k.a Basia who was then based in Canada. Within a short time, and true to type, they got married in a hush-hush Islamic Nikkai.
Bolaji Saheed reportedly became the fourth husband of the actress, the marriage also did not last. After that, she met her fifth husband, US-based Adewale Onitiri.
They got married 2010 and it has been reported that the marriage has failed.
2. Stella Damasus
Stella Damasus is a Nigerian actress and singer. Damasus married her first husband, Jaiye Aboderin, at 21 in 1999. The couple had two daughters before Jaiye died suddenly in 2004.
Damasus remarried in 2007, this time to Emeka Nzeribe. The marriage lasted for seven months before a mutual agreement to divorce.
In 2011, she became associated with multiple award-winning Nollywood producer and director Daniel Ademinokan as her third husband, this eventually also led to a separation in 2020 and subsequent divorce.
Their relationship sparked a lot of controversies all over Nigeria and Africa because both parties never publicly admitted to dating, engaged or even married until 2014.
3. Toyin Abraham
You most likely would know her as Toyin Aimakhu. This Nigeria born actress, producer, and director got married to a Nollywood actor Adeniji Johnson in 2013. The union appeared sweet on social media as the duo never ceased to gush about each other.
Surprisingly, in 2015, news went round that the celebrity couples were having it hot as they announced their separation.
She changed her name from Toyin Aimakhu to Toyin Abraham in 2016. According to her, the change was her family’s decision.
She got entangled with another Nollywood actor Kolawole Ajeyemi. Toyin Abraham did a traditional introduction with kolawole Ajeyemi in 2019 and not legally married to him because the divorce between her and her husband wasn’t finalised as at then, Toyin Abraham and Kolawole Ajeyemi have a son together and are living happily together.
4. Funke Akindele
Akindele-Bello Olufunke Ayotunde, popularly known, as Funke Akindele or Jenifa is a Nigerian film actress and producer. Funke Akindele is one of the many celebrities who have been in more than one marriage. On May 26, 2012, Funke married Adeola Kehinde Oloyede. Barely a year after they wedded, the marriage crashed and the couple divorced in July 2013.
After her break up with Oloyede, Akindele later got married to a Nigerian rapper Abdul Rasheed Bello, known as JJC Skillz in London in May 2016 exactly four years after her first marriage. The couple is blessed with twins.
5. Clarion Chukwura
Clara Nneka Oluwatoyin Folashade Chukwurah is Nollywood actress and humanitarian. Clarion Chukwura got married three times. Her first marriage was with certain Tunde Abiola in 2003, which crashed after few months.
After her divorce from late Tunde Abiola, the actress went into a relationship with afro-juju legend, Sir Shina Peters and bore one of Nigeria’s finest Video director, Clarence Peters.
Things did not work out well with her and Shina peters so she got married to Femi Oduneye popularly known as Femi Egyptian on February 14, 2004. The marriage collapsed after a while. Clarion tied the knot with her third husband, Anthony Boyd, an American in 2016.
6. Mercy Aigbe
Popular Nollywood actress Mercy Aigbe, who is popular for her fashion sense on social media, was a wife to an Igbo man and had a beautiful daughter for him but the union couldn’t stand the test of time as it crashed a few years later due to the interference of her mother inlaw.
The screen goddess married her second husband, Nigerian hotelier, Lanre Gentry at the Ikoyi Registry in 2013. In 2017, the marriage between Mercy and Gentry headed to the rocks as she shared photos of herself after allegedly being assaulted by her husband. She consequently separated from her husband due to claims of domestic violence.
Actress Mercy Aigbe recently got married to her third husband, Kazim Adeoti, popularly known as Adekaz, a wealthy Yoruba filmmaker, movie marketer, and founder of Adekaz Productions.
Read Also: Adekaz’s wife, Funso, reveals Mercy Aigbe started sleeping with him 12 years ago
7. Monalisa Chinda
Monalisa Chinda is a Nigerian actress, film producer, television personality and media personality. Her first marriage was to Dejo Richards. The marriage did not stand the test of time as it collapsed sooner than expected.
The couple parted ways in 2009 after they had a daughter together. She later walked down the aisle with Victor Tonye Coker in 2016.
8. Foluke Daramola
Foluke Daramola-Salako is a popular Nigerian actress. In 2005, she married Babatunde Sobowale, son of former Lagos State Commissioner of Education, Professor Sobowale. The union ended in 2008 after two kids, on allegations of wife battering and infidelity.
In 2012, Daramola got married to Kayode Salako traditionally. In a 2016 interview, she revealed that she was raped while she was a teenager.
9. Regina Askia
Regina Askia-Williams is a Nigerian-born, American-based family nurse practitioner, healthcare and educational activist, television producer, writer, and public speaker, who found fame as an actress and model.
The Former Nigerian beauty queen was once married to Charles Orie, but she later divorced him and married an American Rudolph ‘Rudy’ Williams, nephew of Ron Everette and grandson of Fess Williams.
They have since separated on account of domestic, emotional and verbal abuse from Williams.
10. Stephanie Okereke
Stephanie Okereke Linus is a Nigerian actress, film director and model.
The gorgeous actress was once married to former Super Eagles defender, Chikelu Iloenyosi in 2004. However, the marriage crashed in 2007.
In April 2012 Okereke married Linus Idahosa in Paris, France, at a private wedding ceremony that was attended by members of her family and scores of Nollywood actresses and actors.
11. Shan George
Shan George is a Nollywood actress, singer, film producer and director. The ravishing actress first got married in 1985 when she was just 16-years-old. She had two children for her first husband, whom she divorced in 1991 when she was 21.
It is rumoured that she married a certain man which didn’t last as well.
In 2011, She got married in a quiet ceremony, which was attended by just a few people. She is said to have opted for a low key marriage because she had been advised to be less open about her private life if she wanted her marriage to last.
She married Anthony Nwosisi, making him the third husband but the marriage too did not last.
In 2020, she revealed she was getting married for the fourth time. In her Instagram post, the actress revealed that her new man is also from Cross River like her, adding that she had been scared and sceptical in the past, but this union seems right and she said yes to her best friend, brother and partner.
12. Liz Benson
Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Benson is a Nigerian actress, television personality and philanthropist. The veteran actress was married to Samuel Gabriel Etim. She lost him in her mid-twenties.
She took another shot in marriage after her conversion to Christianity and married Bishop Great Ameye in a quiet court ceremony in Abuja in 2009. Together, the two are involved in a Christian Evangelical Ministry in which her husband is a pastor while she is an evangelist.
13. Ann Njemanze
Beautiful Anne Njemanze is the former wife of actor Segun Arinze and they had a beautiful daughter before their marriage crashed in 2003.
The Tinsel actress found love again in the waiting arms of a lecturer, Silver Ojieson, who is younger than her and on November 9, 2013, they signed the dotted lines.
However, there are unconfirmed speculations that the young union which was much celebrated crashed on the ground of domestic violence, abuse and battery.
14. Obot Etuk
The actress- turned- Pastor Etuk’s first marriage was in 1985 when she was just 15 years and her husband, named Kirikko was 18. Kirikko later went to the U.S and another man took Etuk away from her legally married husband. They had three children before separating, they legally divorced in 2002.
Actress Obot Etuk and late Ernest Asuzu also had a love affair before he got married.
It is rumoured that she has found love and married in London.
Etuk who took a long break from acting is said to be an ordained minister in Manchester UK.
15. Doris Simeon
Doris Simeon is a Nigerian Yoruba and English actress, compere, hairdresser and entrepreneur.
She was once married to a movie producer and director Daniel Ademinokan. Doris and Daniel met on a movie set where love bound them. Together the couple bore a son, David Ademinokan.
The two got divorced on May 2013, which gave Ademinokan the opportunity to tie the knot with the Nigerian actress and widow of Jaiye Aboderin, Stella Damasus in 2013, which generated a lot of controversy.
However, Doris Simeon found love again as she got married to Taiwo Oduala in 2019 in the USA.
16. Lola Alao
Lola Alao is an award-winning Nollywood actress who has built a successful career in the entertainment industry.
On 2 June 2002, she exchanged wedding vows with an automobile dealer, Dare Ogunlana. They gave birth to a daughter – Damilola. Several years later, they broke up.
In 2013, the actress tied the knot with Adewale Yakubu Ajibola. Lola Alao wedding took place in Atlanta, the USA. About a year later, this marriage ended with a divorce.
Actress, Lola Alao, says she has grown a thick skin because she is not a stranger to controversies.
As of today, she is single. She said: It is a case of never say never, I can tell you ‘no’ now and another thing would happen tomorrow. As long as I cannot predict the future, then I can’t predict events (that have yet to unfold). If marriage comes, (that would be) fine, and if it does not come, I am also good (with that).
