‘I’ll wait for Mr. Right even if it takes 100 years’ – Karen Igho

Here is an interview she did with THENETNG. read
below..
Meeting with Karen Igho at Radisson Blu Hotel was
quite fun and interesting. Dressed in a black dress,
charming, cheerful and friendly, the sexy actress, OAP
and model was quite outspoken about many issues. In
the course of our chat, the former BBA winner opened
up about career, finding the right man someday and
most interestingly, her twitter feud with actress Yvonne
Nelson.
Karen what have you been up to lately?
I just got back from Calabar and I would be going
back there soon for the carnival. I would be there for a
week along with some of the past BBA contestants. I'm
still going through my movie script which would start
shooting on December 5. You know I got an
appearance on Tinsel. I'm still doing radio and
modeling too. I'm an ambassador for GoTV, I've been
doing interviews, shoots; basically I have been up and
down.
You seem like a very busy person with TV, radio,
modeling. How do you handle all of that?
When you are young, that is when you go hard so that
later in life, you can sit back and enjoy all you have
worked for. I like to think of myself as being
multitalented. I am also into music. I have a song with
my brother who is with a record label called MMM,
owned by Mikel Obi. I have a cousin, Igho who is a
video director and rapper. I also have singing twin
cousins, Aaron and Sharon known as Addiction. It's
such a big family and it's just fun you know. One
minute I'm an actress, the next I'm a musician. I
believe I can do all things if only I'm taught, because
I'm a fast learner.
How is acting working out for you?
I was born to be an actress. To be honest when you are
an actress, you don't plan it, it just comes naturally. I
used to act dramas with my cousins and I studied a bit
of Theatre Arts, so, that's basically it.
After BBA, what have you done with your prize
money?
My money, I kept it oh. I saved it and I'm still saving
and taking care of my family, friends and my grandma.
That's why am still in the industry so that I can make
more money.
What's the major lesson you learnt in the Big
Brother house?
For me, it was a wonderful experience but I must say
the main lesson was that when it comes to money and
friendship you have to be very careful because you
never know who really likes you for who you are.
People can do all sorts of things for fame and money
but it still wouldn't stop me from being who I am. But
what I now understand is that BBA was a game and in
as much as it was a game, people got hurt but it's about
time you let it go. I mean this is 2013 and all that was
in the past.
Have there been such experiences in your life where
you have been betrayed by a friend?
Yes, there have been lots of times like that. I'm that
kind of person that doesn't beg for friendship. It is
when you have lots of friends that your gist gets
everywhere. You don't really hear a lot about Karen. I
don't really give people the chance to say things about
me because I have been hurt before and so, I just study
people before I let them in. I only let you know what I
want you to know.
Do you ever get bothered about stories published
about you?
People have to understand that I am only human. Most
of the stories you read about me are lies and when it's
the truth you would know because when lies are said or
printed about me I just call my manager and we take
them to court. It's not like before where you can
publish lies and get away with it. Now, journalists need
to be careful about what they are saying and how they
are saying it. I am that kind of person that if things are
true I would admit it and if they are not, I would tell
you so, because there's no harm in being honest.
Have you ever felt depressed and wanted to quit the
spotlight because of what was written about you?
The press has been good so far because they know the
consequence of their actions so I have to applaud them
for that. But you see on twitter, some people just bully
others. When I just come on, they just go 'hey, Karen
don gbagaun o'. Hello, I am human and I'm not
perfect, even Jesus Christ wasn't perfect. They just
feel that when you're a celebrity you don't have to
make mistakes, but I'm young and I'm still going to
make lots of mistakes and so you better deal with it. I
like the fact that I have never claimed to be holier than
thou or looked down on other people.
There was a tweet supposedly from Yvonne Nelson's
account taking shots at you, how do you respond to
that?
Let me break it down first and foremost, I don't
know Yvonne Nelson and I have never met her. I heard
she is a Ghanaian actress. I don't hate on anyone who is
trying to make a living but you just can't come out of
the blue and insult me. Everybody knows I'm not
troublesome. If you look for my trouble I would give
you double. Why would you just insult Nigerian celebs
and myself, 'wetin I do you na?'It's not like we've met
before. Attention seekers should go and look for the
attention elsewhere.
She did say her account was hacked?
If your account was hacked with a verified account they
won't tweet personal messages at celebs. They would
try and send viruses and spam and keep on hacking.
You don't say Karen has been quiet and try to take
shots at her. Right now, I don't even care anymore
because they are attention seekers who when they can't
get attention from men, they try to get it from women.
The best thing is to ignore them. If indeed your account
was hacked, you would look for my contact and call me
and apologize or apologize to Nigerians or mention at
me on twitter and apologize personally. I hope the girl
has learnt her lesson that if you want to be famous you
do it the right way. God has blessed you and put you
where you are so work on how to succeed and not look
for ways to belittle other people.
Were you disturbed that the tweets mentioned your
boobs and you not having a boyfriend?
As a celebrity you should know that there's something
called lumps and that cancer is real. If as a celebrity
I'm doing something to create awareness for cancer,
what is she doing? I have said it before and I am saying
it again out loud, if today they say Karen we found
lumps and we need to take actions I would do what I
will to save my life and not bother about someone
bullying me. I would do what's best for me. I love who
I see in the mirror and you can't say otherwise. She
says I don't have a boyfriend, I mean how cheeky is
that. It's your choice not to sleep around. I get men
asking me out everyday. I don't want to sleep with a
hundred men before I settle with the right one.
How do you cope with the several advances from
men?
You know I can go on twitter and say I'm lonely, or
pick up my phone and make calls and men will arrive,
but I don't want that. I want a connection. I want to be
in love, I don't want to fall for someone because he is a
star or because of what he has. I want to fall in love
with you because of who you are. Some men come and
try to entice me with materials things. You don't have
to be rich to win my world. I would wait for the right
man even if it takes a hundred years, after all they say
God's time is the best.
A month ago you were robbed, what was the
experience like?
It was in Elegushi. We were robbed of a lot of things
the car get security so we thank God say dem no thief
am. It was a Range Rover but no be my car. It's not
about what they stole but about you being okay and not
wanting to experience that scenario again.
Lately you've been very upfront about charitable
causes especially breast cancer. What's the story?
Yeah, breast cancer, orphanage homes, youth
empowerment and HIV. You see, the thing about
Nigerians is that they don't understand when you tell
them a thing because you're trying to create awareness.
Telling people about my lumps was to create awareness
but at the end of the day, I had it thrown at my face. At
the end of the day, I really don't care because I have
been able to do what I wanted to do, which is to create
awareness and pass the message across-early detection is
key. If you don't know what to do, we will tell you.
Every year there's this thing we organize with
Exquisite. We walk just to create awareness and we
have a lot of celebrities coming in not because we don't
have any other thing to do at the time, but because
that's another way of giving back to the society. It's not
always what the society can do for you but what can
you do for the society? And in my own little way I give
back and I don't have to wait till am 50 to do so.
What new projects are you working on?
I have my own company now and I am doing a lot. I
just rebuilt my website www.karenigho.com. We are
doing a lot to empower the youths. This December
would be very busy for me. I'm going to Benin on the
7th, Calabar on the 23rd am just going up and down
and of course I have several engagements with Naija
FM which I'm a part of.