Chinedu Ikedieze on how Public Attention Affects Celebrity Couples

Chinedu Ikedieze and Wife

Chinedu Ikedieze has been acting in Nollywood for over a decade now, and is well known as one half of the duo of Aki and Pawpaw. I watched a couple of their earlier movies, but after that, it became a bit repetitious, and Nigerian comedy as a whole, IMO, seemed to get stuck in the same old same old. In his interview with BN, he actually blamed producers who split movies into up to 6 parts as being the major part of the problem.

On questions about how he met or proposed to his wife, I love their picture above btw, he chose to keep the details close to his chest. According to him, he met his wife the way people meet people, and his proposal was very unique, and he wouldn't share it for fear other men would copy it. I want to believe he's joking. The other part of the interview I found quite interesting were the questions about how him being an actor in the public eye had affected his wife and marriage. It made me think about my role as a blogger. Check out the questions and answers below;

Sometime last year, a picture of you carrying a baby sparked some rumours that your wife had given birth. How did you feel about this?
I carry babies almost every day. There are some things people should see and understand quickly that people just want to take pictures with me. As Nigerians, we’ve come to that level where we should be able to distinguish the truth from ordinary fallacy. When we see truth, we should be able to identify it, but we just believe anything from people who manufacture information just to make money.

Were the rumours an indication of any pressure on you or your wife to have children?
Pressure? Who is under pressure? Nobody is under pressure.

When you stepped out with her at the Bovi Man On Fire concert last year, it created quite a buzz because you hardly make appearances with her at public events.
We do, but it depends on the event. That day we just felt like going to laugh. I don’t want to incorporate my wife into my “celebrity status”. I want her to live her life. It’s easy for me to turn her into a celebrity but I don’t want to. The Nigerian media finds it easy to toy around with couples and it is left for the man to put things where they supposed to be. If I begin to put my wife in my shoes, it would affect the both of us and I wouldn’t want that. I want her to be able to go out freely, to go shopping freely. After the wedding, she couldn’t go out freely because people recognized her and it really affected her. But for me, I’m already used to the attention.

Read the rest of the interview on Bellanaija