Meeting with Karen Igho at Radisson Blu
Hotel was quite fun and interesting.
Dressed in a black dress, charming,
cheerful and friendly, the sexy actress,
OAP and model was quite outspoken
about many issues. In the course of our
chat, the former BBA winner opened up
about career, finding the right man
someday and most interestingly, her
twitter feud with actress Yvonne Nelson .
Karen what have you been up to lately?
I just got back from Calabar and I would be
going back there soon for the carnival. I
would be there for a week along with some
of the past BBA contestants. I’m still going
through my movie script which would start
shooting on December 5. You know I got
an appearance on Tinsel . I’m still doing
radio and modeling too. I’m an
ambassador for GoTV, I’ve been doing
interviews, shoots; basically I have been
up and down.
You seem like a very busy person with TV,
radio, modeling. How do you handle all of
that?
When you are young, that is when you go
hard so that later in life, you can sit back
and enjoy all you have worked for. I like to
think of myself as being multitalented. I am
also into music. I have a song with my
brother who is with a record label called
MMM , owned by Mikel Obi. I have a
cousin, Igho who is a video director and
rapper. I also have singing twin cousins,
Aaron and Sharon known as Addiction. It’s
such a big family and it’s just fun you
know. One minute I’m an actress, the next
I’m a musician. I believe I can do all things
if only I’m taught, because I’m a fast
learner.
How is acting working out for you?
I was born to be an actress. To be honest
when you are an actress, you don’t plan it,
it just comes naturally. I used to act
dramas with my cousins and I studied a
bit of Theatre Arts, so, that’s basically it.
After BBA, what have you done with your
prize money?
My money, I kept it oh. I saved it and I’m
still saving and taking care of my family,
friends and my grandma. That’s why am
still in the industry so that I can make
more money.
What’s the major lesson you learnt in the
Big Brother house?
For me, it was a wonderful experience but I
must say the main lesson was that when it
comes to money and friendship you have
to be very careful because you never know
who really likes you for who you are.
People can do all sorts of things for fame
and money but it still wouldn’t stop me
from being who I am. But what I now
understand is that BBA was a game and in
as much as it was a game, people got hurt
but it’s about time you let it go. I mean
this is 2013 and all that was in the past.
Have there been such experiences in your
life where you have been betrayed by a
friend?
Yes, there have been lots of times like
that. I’m that kind of person that doesn’t
beg for friendship. It is when you have lots
of friends that your gist gets everywhere.
You don’t really hear a lot about Karen. I
don’t really give people the chance to say
things about me because I have been hurt
before and so, I just study people before I
let them in. I only let you know what I want
you to know.
Do you ever get bothered about stories
published about you?
People have to understand that I am only
human. Most of the stories you read about
me are lies and when it’s the truth you
would know because when lies are said or
printed about me I just call my manager
and we take them to court. It’s not like
before where you can publish lies and get
away with it. Now, journalists need to be
careful about what they are saying and
how they are saying it. I am that kind of
person that if things are true I would admit
it and if they are not, I would tell you so,
because there’s no harm in being honest.
Have you ever felt depressed and wanted
to quit the spotlight because of what was
written about you?
The press has been good so far because
they know the consequence of their
actions so I have to applaud them for that.
But you see on twitter, some people just
bully others. When I just come on, they
just go ‘hey, Karen don gbagaun o’. Hello,
I am human and I’m not perfect, even
Jesus Christ wasn’t perfect. They just feel
that when you’re a celebrity you don’t
have to make mistakes, but I’m young
and I’m still going to make lots of
mistakes and so you better deal with it. I
like the fact that I have never claimed to
be holier than thou or looked down on
other people.
There was a tweet supposedly from
Yvonne Nelson’s account taking shots at
you, how do you respond to that?
Let me break it down first and foremost, I
don’t know Yvonne Nelson and I have
never met her. I heard she is a Ghanaian
actress. I don’t hate on anyone who is
trying to make a living but you just can’t
come out of the blue and insult me.
Everybody knows I’m not troublesome. If
you look for my trouble I would give you
double. Why would you just insult Nigerian
celebs and myself, ‘wetin I do you na?’It’s
not like we’ve met before. Attention
seekers should go and look for the
attention elsewhere.
She did say her account was hacked?
If your account was hacked with a verified
account they won’t tweet personal
messages at celebs. They would try and
send viruses and spam and keep on
hacking. You don’t say Karen has been
quiet and try to take shots at her. Right
now, I don’t even care anymore because
they are attention seekers who when they
can’t get attention from men, they try to
get it from women. The best thing is to
ignore them. If indeed your account was
hacked, you would look for my contact
and call me and apologize or apologize to
Nigerians or mention at me on twitter and
apologize personally. I hope the girl has
learnt her lesson that if you want to be
famous you do it the right way. God has
blessed you and put you where you are so
work on how to succeed and not look for
ways to belittle other people.
Were you disturbed that the tweets
mentioned your boobs and you not having
a boyfriend?
As a celebrity you should know that
there’s something called lumps and that
cancer is real. If as a celebrity I’m doing
something to create awareness for cancer,
what is she doing? I have said it before
and I am saying it again out loud, if today
they say Karen we found lumps and we
need to take actions I would do what I will
to save my life and not bother about
someone bullying me. I would do what’s
best for me. I love who I see in the mirror
and you can’t say otherwise. She says I
don’t have a boyfriend, I mean how
cheeky is that. It’s your choice not to
sleep around. I get men asking me out
everyday. I don’t want to sleep with a
hundred men before I settle with the right
one.
How do you cope with the several
advances from men?
You know I can go on twitter and say I’m
lonely, or pick up my phone and make
calls and men will arrive, but I don’t want
that. I want a connection. I want to be in
love, I don’t want to fall for someone
because he is a star or because of what
he has. I want to fall in love with you
because of who you are. Some men come
and try to entice me with materials things.
You don’t have to be rich to win my world.
I would wait for the right man even if it
takes a hundred years, after all they say
God’s time is the best.
A month ago you were robbed, what was
the experience like?
It was in Elegushi . We were robbed of a lot
of things the car get security so we thank
God say dem no thief am. It was a Range
Rover but no be my car. It’s not about
what they stole but about you being okay
and not wanting to experience that
scenario again.
Lately you’ve been very upfront about
charitable causes especially breast
cancer. What’s the story?
Yeah, breast cancer, orphanage homes,
youth empowerment and HIV. You see, the
thing about Nigerians is that they don’t
understand when you tell them a thing
because you’re trying to create
awareness. Telling people about my
lumps was to create awareness but at the
end of the day, I had it thrown at my face.
At the end of the day, I really don’t care
because I have been able to do what I
wanted to do, which is to create
awareness and pass the message across-
early detection is key. If you don’t know
what to do, we will tell you. Every year
there’s this thing we organize with
Exquisite. We walk just to create
awareness and we have a lot of celebrities
coming in not because we don’t have any
other thing to do at the time, but because
that’s another way of giving back to the
society. It’s not always what the society
can do for you but what can you do for the
society? And in my own little way I give
back and I don’t have to wait till am 50 to
do so.
What new projects are you working on?
I have my own company now and I am
doing a lot. I just rebuilt my website
www.karenigho.com. We are doing a lot
to empower the youths. This December
would be very busy for me. I’m going to
Benin on the 7th, Calabar on the 23rd am
just going up and down and of course I
have several engagements with Naija FM
which I’m a part of.
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