Cashlino –
“Freedom” 
Not all love stories begin with a first-time romance.
Sometimes the individuals we end up falling in love with are those we would never typically go for or who we didn’t think all that impressive upon first meeting.
These celebrity couples from Nigeria didn’t immediately click, but they are now either happily engaged or married.
Simi and Adekunle Gold
Simi and Adekunle Gold, two adored Nigerian singers, are a formidable duo. Adekunle had a strong attraction to Simi before they had even met, but Simi wasn’t in love with him the moment she laid eyes on him. Says Simi;
He was chasing me all over Facebook and everything. No seriously, cause when I was still doing gospel music, he used to listen to my songs. He sent me messages on Facebook, that’s how he reached out to me. I didn’t know him at the time, I didn’t respond.
First time I ever saw him I was supposed to do a show at Bogobiri and he said “I’m going to be there”, I said “Oh sure” and then he actually came and I was like who is this skinny boy (laughs)
That’s the first time I ever met him, then over the years we were friends, and then…
Lateef Adedimeji and Mo Bimpe
Lateef Adedimeji and Mo Bimpe, two Nollywood actors, recently got married. However, in a previous interview, Mo Bimpe made the following unequivocal statements regarding Lateef:
I can never marry Lateef Adedimeji, he is not my type, and he is like a brother to me. I can never marry a man that is popular. My ideal man is someone that is very low-key.
Ireti Doyle and Patrick Doyle
Ireti and Patrick Doyle are another Nollywood couple that have been together for many years. Speaking about her initial thoughts about him, Ireti said:
I met him at my first official audition in Lagos State because I had done a production in Jos, Plateau State, before then. School was shut for a very long time; I was bored, I told a friend, this is what I wanted to do and she said I have somebody who can help, lets go to him. We went and he said there is an audition the following week. He asked me to come and try if I could get the role. The moment I walked into the room on the day of the audition, I became intimidated because people seated in that room that day were very big names, people I grew up watching. Names like Yemi Solade, Funsho Alabi, Justus Esiri, Joe Adekwa and then Patrick Doyle himself. That was the very first time we met, and it was purely business for many years before one thing led to another.
Initially, dating him was gauche. The first time he even mentioned that he was attracted to me, my inner reaction was like amusing. In the course of work, when we are done, we do go out for lunch, and it didn’t mean anything to me because we were three then and later we were two. It didn’t occur to me because all my time working, I was treated like a boy. The few days I wore a dress to work; the guys would sit and make fun of me. He told me of his attraction during lunch, and my first reaction was, oh no! And I was having so much fun here, where am I going to get another job? Where I could learn everything as I was doing? I spent a lot of time trying to tell him why this would not be healthy for the work and he said no. He was sure it would work out. So, he took his time to convince me.
Banky W and Adesua Etomi
Banky W acknowledges that despite being one half of one of Nigeria’s most well-known couples, he didn’t even notice Adesua the first few times he saw her. In a post on Instagram, he stated:
We crossed paths 2 or 3 times since 2012, but I wasn’t paying enough attention. Destiny was staring me right in the face and I was too caught up in my own hustle and paper chase, to know it. In June 2015 however, God brought you my way again, and this time, I really SAW you. I was smitten by your grace, aura, and beauty. So smitten infact, that even though I didn’t get to say a word to you that day (because you were seated far across the room), I immediately called my best friend @captdemuren and told him I’d found my next girlfriend.
Temi Otedola and Mr. Eazi
Actress Temi Otedola and singer Mr. Eazi have been dating for a while. The interesting thing is that Temi first believed Mr. Eazi was an asshole when they first met. Regarding the encounter, she said:
Someone had told me “I’m gonna go do something in the club, I brought my friend here so just make sure he’s okay, give him drinks, he came on his own.” Me being someone who likes to be friendly to strangers I was like “Heyyy do you live in London? Can I get you a drink? What have you been up to?” I was just on my usual cute, let’s be nice, let’s meet people vibes. And I was like this guy is an asshole like why is he being so rude?
