Karen Igho, co-winner of Big Brother Amplified in 2011, gave some interesting revelations about her life:
How I feel about a new season of Big Brother Africa starting soon
To be honest, the spotlight cannot be
shifted from me because it is God that put me there. I know where I am
coming from. Do not forget there is a BBA winner from South Africa
already and I am still where I am. The thing is, if people like you,
they like you. If they want your star to stop shining, it will. If you
are humble, grateful and real with people, you would still on top. If
you are bitchy, you will not last long. I am taking corrections from
people who have been there like Derenle and Uti. I am trying to learn
from them. Whoever emerges as winner, I wish them the best.
Rumours about my friends -Denrele and Uti
This interview is not about them. It is
about me, Karen Igho. I am not here to discuss people’s sexuality. It
does not concern me.
About my boob job
People need to understand that I did not
do it to impress anybody. I did it for me. When I did it, I was young
and the reason I did it was because I had lumps; they took out some
tissues and in the process, my breasts reduced. At that time and age, I
was insecure that I had lumps that could develop into cancer and my
boobs were small, so I went to get implants. They are not even that big;
sometimes it is my bra that makes them big and people would be talking
about my breasts like they have never seen breasts before. I did not do
it for anybody. It was for me and because of the way I felt. I really
thank God because a lot of women have cancer but mine did not get to
that stage. Two of my sisters also had lumps, it is hereditary. My aunt
died because of blood cancer, my granddad died because of brain cancer
and my uncle died because of eye cancer.
I am partnering NGOs
I am involved with Non Governmental
Organisations that are into any type of cancer awareness programme. On
my birthday, I went to Lagos State University Teaching Hospital to see
kids with cancer. I asked them what they needed and some of them needed a
transplant, some needed blood, and I helped the little way I could. I
do not limit it to cancer alone. The campaign for HIV and AIDS is also
something I am passionate about. There is also the youth empowerment
programme too. I see myself as a stepping stone for other youths who are
out there struggling; youths who are asking themselves if they can make
it because Nigeria is a tough country to live in. Yes, you can make it
if you put your mind to it and work hard. Look at me, from nothing to
something. I want people to learn from me.
My early days
I grew up in the village. I stayed with
my grandmother and we lived in a mud house. Whenever it rained, we would
be soaked inside the house. The food we ate then was straight from the
bush. I had a lot of bush meat, that is why I love Nigerian food. I call
them vintage food. Although I eat international dishes, I prefer
Nigerian food. I also like to cook because I learnt it from my mother
and my grandmother. My father died when I was 12 years old. Growing up
for me was not easy. My dad is from a wealthy family, he is Peter Igho’s
brother. It was the situation and circumstance at that point in time. I
bet if he was alive he would have seen things in a different way. I was
abused as a child, not sexually. I was maltreated because I had to live
with relatives. Nobody would treat you like their own. My parents had
me when they were young and they had various things they wanted to do. I
had to stay with different relatives. I was beaten well.
The Big Brother House experience
I won Big Brother and I am grateful to
the people that voted for me. The one I picked on the most was how
easily people can be lied to. It is not good. How tabloids fabricated
lies and gave them to the public to read and they bought them, without
knowing how true those stories were. What I have learnt from life is
that it is not good to judge. It is not every girl you see that is a bad
girl; because these days, the good girls are now the bad girls and the
bad girls are now the good girls. I know that God would always be with
me. I could not defend myself but God defended me because if I had got
out of the Big Brother House and did not win, I would have been the most
hated housemate in Big Brother history. I thank God for making me win
and making people see me for who I am. The people saw that there is more
to me than meets the eye, I thank God for that. They gave me 91 days to
showcase the kind of person that I am and I did and that was what
Africa fell in love with.
Being an ex-stripper
Where did you get your source from? Can
you please give me evidence and proof? Even the pictures are all
‘photoshop’. It is not fair because at the end of the day, I will want
to get married and do some other things. I know when I was in the house,
people were expecting me to be the one to have sex, they were expecting
me to be the one to shower naked first. With the way I behaved in the
house, people could have figured out that I am different from what they
have read about me.
The only thing I have is my pride and dignity. My
privacy and my body are reserved for my future husband. For 91 days, I
refused to bath naked, I was using a bikini and lingerie to have my
bath. I took about 20 bikinis into the house to have shower with and to
protect my pride. Coming out and seeing my own people trying to bring me
down made me feel bad. Other African countries were not laughing at me
but the writers of the negative stories because they watched me and
analysed me based on the way I acted in the house. They concluded that I
could not have been the same girl. My fans, the real Karenified, were
really supportive and I am very grateful.
How I was assaulted last year by a policeman
That particular day, it was my friend,
Denrele, that invited me to an event and I had to honour his invitation.
I had my tag and my invite. I even took a friend, to tell you how many
invites I had. I even took my own bouncer. Before the incident happened,
my bouncer had been discharged to go home. If he was there, it would
not have happened. People always quote what happened that day wrongly.
It was a MOPOL officer, not a bouncer that hit me. A policeman in
uniform did it to a citizen. The reason I want to talk about it is
because no man is allowed to hit a woman just like that. I got to the
event and parked, but the guy said he was saving the space for someone
and that if I was not going to give him money, I should park somewhere
else. I asked if he was for the party and he said ‘yes’.
I told him that I
was also for the party, but he insisted that I give him money. I told
him to let me go to the event and return. When I got back, I saw that my
car had been blocked in such a way that I could not move out. He
allowed someone else park behind me on purpose because I did not give
him money. I told him that I wanted to leave and he should help me look
for the owner of the car. He told me he wasn’t working for me. I told
him that the event was organised by Smirnoff Ice and they were the ones
that hired him; he said ‘yes’. Then I asked why he was angry.
He said he
would not do anything till I give him money. I told him not to worry
that if it was how he wanted it to be done, I would need his name. I
think the man did not really know who I was. My friend was even with me,
she just got back from the UK. She too was shocked. I asked for his
name but he said he would not give me and if I talk anyhow, he would
slap me. I asked him if it was because he was holding a gun and putting
on a uniform.
Before I knew it, the guy gave me a heavy slap. The slap
sent me to the floor. My jaw shifted and my face was swollen for a week.
I had a concussion on my head. There were witnesses. He threatened he
was going to shoot if anyone helped me. When he realised what he had
done, and seeing that people were moving towards the scene, he fled. I
got his name and told the organisers what happened and they sprang into
action. I was traumatised and shocked, I got scared. I told them I was
going to sue for what they caused me, but we later settled out of court.
My first heartbreak
I am the kind of girl that when I am with
a guy, I am with a guy. I do not cheat or double date. I stick to one
man. I am a faithful, loyal, honest and God-fearing kind of person. When
I do anything, I put myself in the person’s shoes. I was about 22 years
old when I had my first heartbreak. The guy travelled to America, so we
had to call it quits. He was a nice person but I had to move on. A lot
of things happened. I am from a strict Christian home, so I did not
start dating till I was about 19 years old. He was the first person I
had sex with. I did not lose my virginity till I was quite old. Because I
have a petite figure, people don’t know how old I am. I was 20 years
old when I lost my virginity.
A fan that proposed to me
I went for a show in Warri, Facebook
Unplugged. I turned him down because then, I just won Big Brother. I did
not know him and he just gave me a ring. I said ‘no’ because I did not
know him. He could be psychotic, who knows? I think he was playing,
though. It was nice of him. At that time, I did not know if he loved me
or my money. If he comes now, I will probably consider him because it is
about a year and a half now. I have invested the money.
My current relationship
You never know when it comes to
relationships. I say so because you can be seeing someone for about a
year and it does not work out because it was not meant to be. Maybe
because of my busy schedule or my career. I might be seeing someone now,
but it does not mean that few months later, I will not be single. At
the moment, I am seeing somebody but I want to see how it goes
No comments:
Post a Comment