Encomium
‘The sweetest thing was that he proposed in the presence of my family and friends’
Love, one more time, has come the way of star actress, Stephanie Onyekachi Okereke. And soonest, by the grace of God, she would be walking down the aisle.
The sweet and svelte actress’ new Prince Charming is Linus Idahosa, the front man of Delyork International, also into show business. The dark dude went on his knees on Saturday, October 2, 2010, asking her to be his wife and the mother of his children.
The venue was soccer great, Austin Okocha’s nightclub (Club 10, on Saka Tinubu Street, Victoria Island, Lagos). And with tear-filled eyes, the role interpreter who was not expecting the question stammered ‘yes…yes..yes’. Just as some of her friends and family members who witnessed the memorable day cheered on.
We gathered that the duo retired to a very special place to wind up the ‘proposal and acceptance’ get together which saw Stephanie getting a diamond-encrusted ring. Although, this was after the like of Governor Timipre Sylvia of Bayelsa State, producer Donald Okoli and actress Chioma Toplis who witnessed the romantic night had all departed.
Born on October 2, 1980, she is from Ngor-Okpalla, Imo State and read English at the University of Calabar, Cross River State. Before then, she had attended Ahor Primary School and St. Bridget’s Girl Grammar School, both in Delta State.
The sixth of her parents’ children, her career took a quantum leap in 2003 when her superlative role in Emotional Crack fetched her the Actress of the Year award at the REEL Awards. Not long after, she was involved in a ghastly motor accident in Rivers State that almost cost her her life and left her bed-ridden for many months. As if that wasn’t enough heartache, her marriage to ex-footballer, Chikelue Iloenyosi, also crumbled.
But getting over all that, Stephanie buried herself in her work and studies at the New York Film Academy. Graduating in flying colours and taking it a notch higher with her self written, produced and directed box office hit, Through The Glass, her life and career literarily exploded.
Now into helping mankind and fighting the cause of VVF victims, she was swimming in joy when we spoke with her exclusively on Friday, October 8, 2010.
“Love is a beautiful thing,” she had begun, with her trademark smile covering her face. Quickly, she added that, “It’s not just being in love, but being in love with someone who understands what it means to be in love…love is good, very good,” she gushed.
Asked to tell us when they would be walking down the aisle, the young lady whose laughter usually surges from the depth of her soul, parried it with this response, “When it happens, you will know. But that info, I’m promising you, I will let you know first hand.”
Going back to the good fortune that came her way on her 30th birthday, she confessed not expecting it. “I wasn’t expecting it. True! As a matter of fact, the day even started for me on a slow note, but he (Linus) kept bringing different surprises. I suspected he was planning something, but didn’t know what it was. I even came from Abuja for the party.”
Lastly, the actress said the sweetest thing about what transpired that night was that he did it in the presence of her family and friends. “Oh, that was fine, it was beautiful.” Summing Linus up as ‘my person’, we gathered that both of them met in 2009, here in Lagos, Nigeria and have remained inseparable ever since.
This story was first published in Encomium Weekly on Tuesday, October 12, 2010
One Comment