Nollywood actor Adeniyi Johnson made headlines in 2013 when he took popular actress Toyin Aimakhu as wife. Though they were recently considering a split, the couple have announced,they are giving their marriage another shot.. In this recent interview with the Nation, Niyi talks about falling for her and how it affected his career.
Was it easy scoping her?
Bros, no be small thing o. It wasn’t easy. Then, there was the difference in status. She was a celebrity while I was an up and coming (actor). But we became very good friends. We were so good that we hardly could not do without chatting a day on BBM. The feelings started developing for me, but you know, initially, you have to be very careful. One way or the other, things led to her deleting me off BBM at some point and adding me back. There is a whole lot of story to it.
On the challenges of marriage
Secondly, after my marriage, it became challenging for me in my career. A lot more was expected of me because everybody knows my wife is a fantastic actress. They expected me to match up with her standards so I had to step up my game. Also, in a whole lot of programmes I was doing, they (producers) started running away from me saying, Oko Toyin Aimakhu (Toyin Aimakhu’s husband); how will we pay him? But now, I have been able to strike the balance. We are moving on. It’s been smooth.
Are you trying to say marriage affected you career negatively?
I have to be candid, it has been positive. It is like a journey. You know where you are going and you envisage that you will get there in about five years but getting married to someone helped you arrive a couple of years early. It has affected me positively, I must confess. I thank God I married the woman I married.
Sometimes do you feel intimidated by her status?
I have always been her fan, even before I got married to her. She knows. When people talk about her and how good she is, I kept telling them she is interpreting her role well and that they should leave that to the husband. I never knew I would be the husband. I never knew I was going to marry her. I kept defending her.
So when the opportunity came for us to become friends, I saw the part of Toyin when she is off camera. I have never been intimidated by her. I have always been the one campaigning for people to vote for her. I want her to win as much awards as possible. My brother, there is no joy in meeting a woman who is driving an SUV and then she meets you and starts driving a very small car. It is not a thing of joy. I would rather she goes from there to flying and then keep soaring high. It motivates me to move too. I am her number one fan. Even when I see some of her movies that she is not happy with, I tell her she is the best.
But people are of the notion that she is older than you are
Toyin is one of the fortunate celebrities we have in Nigeria. She got known early, so people started mistaking stardom for her age. Most of our girls are just plump. They have acting age like they have football age. So when I came into the picture, her real age had to come out. She graduated in 2006.
She complained about how she kept getting bigger, so I asked her not to worry and that she can work on it as a lady. I became a friend. I was almost like a gym instructor, advising her on what to do.
When you made your intention known, did you receive resistance from your family?
Naturally, you should expect that, being an African and a Yoruba man. And then, based on the role that Toyin plays, people judge her by what she does on screen. When they got to meet her one-on-one, they saw a different person. I didn’t really have to patronise my family or sell her to them. It was my decision. It is my life. It is who I want to spend the rest of my life with, although they have a say to a large extent I made them realise this is who she is and I am getting married to her. So far, nobody has regretted ever supporting me. I don’t think there has ever been a cause where family had to come in to settle our disputes. I am not even a fan of family settling disputes.
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