How I met my wife of 16 years

In a recent interview, veteran actor Segun Arinze revealed how he met his wife, Julie, 16 years after a failed marriage and several relationships. Arinze, a former AGN President, had a short-lived marriage with actress Anne Njemanze and a divorce that made headlines in 1997.

Twelve years after the divorce, he found love in the arms of Julie, a lawyer, and they had a high-profile wedding in 2008.

Unlike his colleagues, Arinze has never been outspoken about his divorce. However, in a tell-it-all interview with media personality Chude Jideonwo, the bilingual actor shared his love story.

The 58-year-old revealed that in 2017, he cried to God for a wife after several failed attempts.

“I stayed out of marriage after the first one crashed. I stayed out of marriage for like 12 years before I remarried. I remarried in 2008. It’s not that I gave up on marriage; I was just confused about getting the right person.

“I got into so many crazy relationships. Both the ones were good, crazy, and bad. I saw all of them that year, in 2007. I cried to God and said, ‘Father Lord, I have had enough. Can you just give me a wife’. I said just find me a wife. I remember I cried,’’ he said,

Finding Love

Anyone can find love amidst pain. Sometimes, love surprises us when we least expect it. It was certainly the case for the talented actor.

The actor cum singer, who shot into prominence after releasing his debut album Dreams in 1992, recalled how he met Julie years ago.

“And then I went to a wedding and saw this beautiful woman. I asked my PA to get her number, but he returned because he was scared. Julius Agwu and I were the MCs at the event. It was Don Chi’s wedding. And Julius Agwu said, ‘My brother dey look for wife o’. When I sat down, I met her, collected her contact information, and invited her to dinner. The rest is history.

“We are years in marriage now with three lovely kids. She is a lawyer. She is also my legal adviser.”

Bad Boy

Arinze played the role of Black Arrow in Chico Ejiro’s 1996 classic Silent Night. Though the character gave him fame, he was stereotyped in the industry, with people perceiving him as bad.

The singer-turned-actor was consistently typecast as a ‘bad boy’ in movies, which affected his mental well-being and prompted him to temporarily step away from acting.

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“There was a time when I took a hiatus from acting when people were casting me in that mode of ‘bad boy’, and it was beginning to affect my psyche. I was getting very depressed, and I had to take a two-year hiatus. What kept me going was voiceovers,’’ he noted.

The award-winning actor began his acting career in Ilorin, Kwara State. Outside acting movies, Segun is also an acting coach and currently works with a prestigious African international film festival, passing his knowledge on to the next generation of actors.