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| Tonto Dikeh |
Dikeh, from a family of seven, lost her mother at the age of three.
In 2005 she competed against other contestants on a reality TV show called The Next Movie Star; she was the first runner up.
Dikeh's appearance on the show was as a means of getting closer to the "big time", she says,and her start in the Nigerian movie industry came soon after.
Dikeh says that after her second movie Holy Cross, more movie directors and producers were willing to cast her, and she has appeared in scores of movies since.
Sexual content in Dikeh's roles, particularly in 'Dirty Secret' has led to criticism by some Nigerians, represented in Nollywood by actor Charles Okafor.
Dikeh confirms she is in a relationship and is very happy. In January 2011 she took part in a charity fashion show in Lagos with Banky W., Omotola Jalade Ekeinde and others.
In a interview recently, Tonto speaks smoking, seminude acting and more, excerpts:
How true is the rumor that you are a heavy smoker and can’t do without cigarette?
We are just so shallow minded. How does that come into the way I act? Excuse me (voice raised). That is my personal life. If I want to smoke, I handle a stick of cigarette and I smoke it hard. It is my life I can decide to smoke myself to hell. It’s nobody’s business.
Yeah! Just like you were smoking before this interview started?
It’s left for me to think about it. It’s left for me to continue. How has smoking affected my acting job? It’s nobody business and it doesn’t affect what you see on TV.
Many said your smoking habit has made you become asthmatic.
(Laughs out loudly) I think my health problems have nothing to do with my job. If I have a health problem then I have a health problem. It’s not something that is meant for the public or the world.
How true is it also that you are into lesbianism?
Aha! There is nothing that is surprising to me anymore. I don’t live my life based on what people say about me.
You acted in the movie, ‘Dirty Secret,’ alongside Muna Obiekwe and Jibola Dabo. The movie has generated so much criticism. How have you taken it?
I felt it but I felt it in a very positive way. It really helped my career. It helped me with my job and my personality as a woman. The movie has been highly talked about and it even got me more popularity. It was really crazy to be part of it. I got paid to interpret a role as an actress and I did it perfectly well. I don’t give a f**k about what anybody is saying out there.
Some critics felt your seminude role in the movie was totally African?
I don’t know what the Africa role is. I don’t know about being an African or not. I am a human being and an actress. That is all I know. Being an African is not part of my job.