In recent years, Omotola Jalade-Ekehinde has featured in hit movies such as ‘Last Flight to Abuja’, ‘Ije’, ‘Private Storm,’ and ‘Ties That Bind’, among others, which are getting good reviews and have earned impressive awards.
A recent survey by Playhouse Communications confirmed she’s Nigeria’s most popular female entertainer on the internet with the highest number of followers on Facebook and Twitter. Omosexy, as she is fondly called, can be said to be a complete woman. Talk of good shape and pretty face, she’s got them all. Even at 36 and after four children Omosexy is still as sexy as a 16-year-old girl.
If you are one of those wondering how this Ondo State-born actress has been able to keep her sexy shape even after going to the labour room four times, then hear her: “First and foremost, I use the power of the tongue. I look at the mirror and say to myself ‘You are slim; you are losing weight in all the right places.’ It’s funny, right? But then, also, I try to eat healthy, and I’m very active. I have just started working out with a trainer, but prior to that I just stay active.”
Yet, one could hardly believe the talented actress actually got married when she was just 18 years old! “I got married in 1996, but we had a plane wedding in 2001. People were thinking, ‘why just do the usual wedding, let’s do something really different.’ We were thinking of a destination wedding and we thought about the logistics. But my husband just suggested, ‘what if we did it on a plane on destination to somewhere?’ People asked if we were crazy. At every level we got to they would look at us and start laughing. But at the end of the day, it was a beautiful wedding. We flew from Lagos to Benin. We couldn’t get approval for anything farther. We actually wanted to have an international flight, but the procedure was tough. We had to insure everybody on that flight. So, we could only go as far as Benin.”
Even after marriage, Omosexy still wears those revealing and sexy clothes. When asked if her husband does not raise eyebrows, she replied: “My husband is extremely in support. I can’t even wear some clothes my husband approves of. People would think I’m crazy, they would read meaning into our relationship. He is a very enlightened person and someone who believes in his heart. Even with our kids, he trusts them so much.”
Omotola would go ahead to tell how it has been with her husband since they were married for many years: “I bless God, it’s been wonderful. God has been very good and I give the glory to Him. And secondly, I’d give credit to my husband. Because, I think I’m the difficult one, because of the demands of my career and because I’m the woman. But he’s been extremely supportive.”
One would wonder that despite her tight schedule Omotola still has time for her children, even to discipline them. “I am a very hands-on Mum. My kids would tell you I’m extremely strict also, because I was trained by a very strict Mum. My Mum was an Egba woman; she used to sit on me. When they say I’m very strict, I say ‘You’re lucky I don’t sit on you.’ I use most of the doctrines in the Bible; I’m always in their business.
Omosexy also speaks on her involvement in the hit movie, ‘Last Flight to Abuja’:
“I pick my projects very carefully, hopefully thinking it might add some value to the time we are in, movie-wise. I saw this as a very risky project, not only because of the story line but also because of the circumstances surrounding the project. Even at the time the Dana Plane crash had not happened, it was based on a true story, the 2006 plane crash. So, I thought it was something we could relate to. I felt it was an opportunity to lend my name to a project that would encourage people to tell stories that are not just fictions, but stories that mean something to us.”
For an actress married to a pilot, one would wonder if she ever had a near tragic experience on a plane, she replies: “Luckily, no. And I hope never to have such an experience in Jesus name! I remember my husband had something similar the year of the Sosoliso crash. He flew that day and dropped the plane, which our friend, Captain Adebayo, took away and unfortunately crashed. That is the closest shave I’ve had. I remember, anytime there is a plane crash people always call, tweet or write me to say, ‘Are you not scared?’ And I’d say, ‘We all fly, are you not scared, too?’ People think because my husband is a pilot I should be more scared than they are. We all fly some day, so it’s also an awakening call to the Aviation Industry, because once that plane takes off, you really can’t change anything.”
Omotola says her husband’s type of job does not prevent him from watching movies. “He watches every one of my movies. And if truth be told, there are some he is not comfortable with. If the movie is becoming intense, he would say ‘I’d rather not watch’. But he would never say I’m going to stop you from doing movies. He is like, ‘this is your image; this is what you do’. My husband would be watching my movie and say, ‘You people are kissing and you are cheating. Don’t people get turned off?’”
According to Omotola, losing her father when she was 12 really affected her. “I’m the first of three kids. My father was the manager of Lagos Country Club, but I lost him when I was 12. I was extremely close to him and it really affected me because, for a long time I was thinking I would die, too. I felt so much grief and it was a lot of strain on my mother because she had three kids to cater for and didn’t want our standard of living to drop. I wanted to help her, so after I left secondary school I started modelling.”
Though she got married when she was 18 in 1996, yet Omotola feels she has not missed anything as a result of her teen marriage. “I haven’t missed anything. I think it’s also because of the kind of person I’m married to. He’s very adventurous and playful. I don’t think there is anything I want to do that I am not doing. I’ve never said I wanted to go somewhere and he says you can’t. I can do anything, go anywhere, and he would be okay with it.
Is Omotola really a snob?
“I guess I have this demeanour that makes me look like I’m in my own zone. People just assume that I’m a snob. Sometimes I really could enter into my own zone, and it depends on where I am. If I’m in a place where the air is too stiff for me, I just become very quiet. But if I get to a place and feel the vibe and it’s free and fun, you are virtually going to beg me to sit in one place. I’m too extreme; I can be overly bubbly and overly quiet. I’m never really in the middle and I can’t pretend.”
Now, there are many upcoming sexy, well-shaped, beautiful and talented actresses in the industry. Does Omotola feel threatened?
“I’m not the most intelligent, I’m not the best actress either, and I don’t think I have the best attitude, but I always ask God for His grace. There are new challenges everyday and I ask God to teach me. You have to always remember there is nothing special about you, it’s just His grace. What you think you have somebody else probably even have double. There are younger, new, hotter, more aggressive people around now. I just try to be myself, work hard, and rely on what can take me far.”
Photo credit: Sync photography
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