Female celebrities always have plenty of admirers, especially among the male folk. And it is usually not a surprise when these beautiful women date and marry football stars. Over the years there have been high profile marriages between Nigerian footballers and female celebrities. LEADERSHIP Sunday compiles a list of Nigerian female celebrities who are married to football stars.
1. Adaeze Yobo
Adaeze Yobi married to Joseph Yobo, former captain of the Super Eagles.She was voted Nigeria's Most Beautiful Girl in 2008 and represented the country in the Miss World beauty pageant before marrying Yobo.
Sharing details on the courtship process between herself and her husband, Joseph Yobo on Nollywood actress Mercy Johnson's YouTube show, "Mercy's Menu" where she discussed family life and meeting her husband, Adaeze, noted that the courtship period had lasted for a month after they met before he'd engaged. The former beauty queen said, "We met at an event, and he came to me and said "Hi, I just wanna be friends", just straight off saying that I liked it.
"So, from there we just started talking and within one month, he gave me a promise ring and said that he wanted to marry me. He travelled, called me on the phone, started marking arrangements and two months after, he proposed to me. I still thought that it was a joke because I was planning to travel to LA for school and he proposed at the airport and that was it."
Adaeze also mentioned that she was taken aback by the swiftness of things and had to talk things over with her mom and husband, sharing that it was a risk that was worth it as she believes she would have remained single till date if she'd decided otherwise.
Adaeze and Joseph Yobo have three children together.
2. Yetunde Barnabas
Yetunde Barnabas is a Nigerian model, beauty queen, actress and film producer. She initially gained recognition as the winner of The Most Beautiful Girl in Abuja pageant in 2017 and was crowned Miss Tourism Nigeria in 2019. She is best known for her role as Miss Pepeiye on Nigeria's long-running sitcom, Papa Ajasco and Company, as well as several leading roles in the Yoruba movie industry. She is married to Super Eagles striker, Peter Olayinka who currently plays for Slavia Prague in Czech Republic.
3. Najaatu Muhammad
Suleiman (Murjaanatu) is a Nigerian actress who started her acting career at the age of 10. Her first movie was Murjaanatu Yarbaba.
Apart from Murjaatu Yarbaba, she has also acted in Ummi, Harira, Auren Gaja, Hakkin Rai. The actress had explained that the directors had to convince her parents before she was allowed to become an actress due to her age.
She got married to Super Eagles star Shehu Abdullahi, who currently plays for Cypriot First Division side Omonia, in a low-key ceremony in June 2021.They welcomed their first child, in 2022.
Announcing the news on his Instagram page, Abdullahi wrote: "We are thrilled to announce our baby boy, mother and baby are in good health. We thank Allah!
We were blessed with the arrival of our son this morning.
We appreciate your prayers"
4. Stephanie Oforka-Uche
Stephanie Oforka won the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria Universe pageant in 2008 and proceeded to represent Nigeria at the prestigious Miss Universe hosted by Donald Trump in Vietnam. Stephanie registered her company in 2010 and launched her beauty and wellness brand in 2016. Her company was born out of a desire to help people feel confident in their bodies through an all-inclusive regime involving fitness trainings, healthy meal plans and skin rejuvenation products.
From her struggle with cystic acne, hormonal changes and weight gain after pregnancy, she was inspired to launch her venture to help other women.Today, Stephanie has completely figured out holistic ways to tackle these issues and is sharing them via her company. Her vision is to create a space where she can help people become the best version of themselves.
A graduate of Geology from the Federal University of Technology Owerri, Nigeria,Stephanie is married to former Super Eagles midfielder Kalu Uche, who played in various clubs in Europe, including Espanyol, Almeria, Bordeaux amongst others. The marriage is blessed with two children.
5. Iheoma Nnadi
Iheoma Amanda Nnadi was crowned Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria 2014.She represented Akwa Ibom state and represented Nigeria in the Miss World 2014 contest but Unplaced.She got married to former Super Eagles forward Emmanuel Emenike in 2018. Emenike was part of the third Nigerian team to win the African Cup of Nations in 2013- Nigeria's first continental victory since 1994. His four goals proved crucial to Nigeria's progress through the tournament, and he was named to the team of the African Cup of Nations Team of the Stephanie and Emenike have a daughter together.
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