UK-based
socialite, Yetunde Oduwole popularly known as Bustline and her younger
Yoruba actor, Babatunde Bernard aka Baba Tee have parted ways.
Remember that rumour had it here a while back that the actor is now a baby daddy to an even younger lover who he was flaunting?
In
this exclusive chat with E24-7 Magazines Editor-In-Chief, Biodun
Kupoluyi, Yetunde Oduwole speaks on the genesis of the affair as well as
how it crumbled early this year. Excerpts…
What led to the collapse of your relationship with Baba Tee?
It is normal for people to get in and out of relationships, so why is it an issue with me?
Perhaps because you’re in the public eye?
It
doesn’t matter. A lot of people kill their stories, and say you know
what, don’t write about this, and that’s what I’ve been telling my
friends. A lot of them ask me what’s happening, and I tell them that I
don’t want to talk about it.
But don’t you think coming out clear is the best way to let the whole world know what’s happening?
What’s
there to know? Are they dumb? They know already, because we have
Instagram and Baba Tee put his woman there and he’s always calling her
‘my wife.’ Are people blind to see that? If we say people don’t know,
then we’re fooling ourselves because they know. They know how my
Instagram page used to be, and how it is now. I’ve cleared all his
photos out of my Instagram, and he has cleared mine out of his own too.
We didn’t have any commitment to be with each other forever, and that’s
what people don’t know.
He felt you abused, and took advantage of him?
I abused him? Okay, I’m not going to say anything now. How could I abuse him, is he a baby?
He said he doesn’t
have any control over you, and that you expose yourself a lot though he
never caught you with any man, but that he never got any benefits from
you?
He never got any benefits from me, but he is driving my car? I also furnished his house, as well as pay his rent here in Nigeria. I bought him a Daewoo Tacoma car and 80% of the things in his house were bought by me. He may have sold the car because he knows I’ll be after him for it.
He also said you were always tracking him?
(Smiles). I’m not going to say anything about that.
Do you regret going into the relationship?
Anything I do, I don’t
have regrets. I’m the kind of person that does things and don’t regret.
If I try to counter everything that he has said, it will look messy
again, and I don’t want any mess.
But did you expect the relationship to end so soon?
You mean the five years
relationship? Yes, we dated for five years, and as far as I’m concerned,
it ended in January this year. The relationship ended earlier this year
because he was acting funny. At the onset, he was like he likes me, but
I told him that I’m older than him though that’s not really a problem.
Even the man that married me wasn’t my age mate. He was on my matter
begging me that he likes me, and I wasn’t dating anybody then.
I considered him because
of his consistency. I like bold people, and it was his boldness that
won me over. Even if a tiny boy woos me, I will consider him because of
the boldness. Then, I confided in a friend, and she was like, are you
crazy, or out of your mind? Why Baba Tee of all people? The age
difference wasn’t even the issue, but it was about his caliber. But I’ve
always been a crazy person when it comes to taking decision; nobody can
tell me what to do. Anyway, he kept on pestering me, so I sat him down
one day and told him that what does he really want from me, because I
already have kids, but he doesn’t have any, so he had to be realistic.
But he replied that inasmuch as I hadn’t attained the age of menopause,
he could still impregnate me. I made him understand that the
relationship wouldn’t last forever.
I even asked him that
does he have a girlfriend, and that if he doesn’t have one, he should
get a girlfriend and let her get pregnant for him, because he was
already concerned that at his age, he hadn’t given birth. Even if you
don’t like somebody from the beginning, it will get to a stage where you
will start falling for the person, so I wouldn’t lie that I started to
like him and I tried to get pregnant as well, but it didn’t work.
Getting pregnant wasn’t even my own wish, it was just a way to
compensate him because, I’ll give it to him, he is not your everyday
young man who is always gallivanting about. I’m not like that as well,
and he knows that about me. A lot of people don’t know that I keep to
myself a lot. I hardly have boyfriends, and he can testify to that.
Except I have events or meetings to attend, I rarely leave my house. I
don’t have a boy friend apart from him. People who are close to me know
that all the things written about me are false. The false stories they
used to write about me used to break my heart, but not anymore.
Now, I just see it as
the price I have to pay for fame. In January, we had a quarrel because
he was becoming cranky, and it was due to the fact that he wanted a
child, but he felt I was being non-challant about it because I told him
he was free to go and impregnate someone else. Then he began to read
meanings to things which he never used to do before. If I used the
picture of any man on my social media accounts, he would ask if that was
the person I was dating. I started to get off the hook as well because
he knows I don’t do things like that. Eventually, we had a quarrel and
he called me over forty times, and I didn’t pick my phone because I
wanted him to know that I’ve had enough. I have a lot of things on my
mind; I’m the only one raising my kids, and I didn’t want any trouble
which is why I didn’t want any relationship in the first place. I made
up my mind then not to pick his calls again because I was tired of his
troubles. He’s a jealous and possessive person.
Even though he knows
that I don’t do all those things, he feels that if I have a male
business partner, then something must be going on between us. I’m no
longer a kid, and I have passed that stage of my life. Anyway, he saw
the handwriting on the wall, and that was how the whole thing ended. He
began telling people to ask me if it was really over, but I always told
them to just leave us alone. However, someone brought the news to me
that he was now dating someone else, and I felt we couldn’t have just
broken up, and he became so close to another girl within that short
period. I reasoned that he must have been dating her for a while though I
had always been asking him but he never opened up to me.
Anyway, I was happy for
him. Even most of the things I sell like bags and shoes are still in his
house that I paid the bulk of the rent for him in Ikorodu. When I came
to Nigeria, I even involved the Commissioner of Police because I planned
to barge in on him, and take back my car and other properties, but I
reconsidered because I have a project I’m planning at the moment and I
don’t like distractions. Perhaps, I’ll do that when next I come to the
country. Someone even sent me a picture on Instagram that Baba Tee made a
video with his girlfriend, and the television in his house belongs to
me. And I replied that even the spoons in his house belong to me. The
person asked if I wouldn’t go and take everything.
I will but in due time.
There was a time I got a message which I think was from his girlfriend,
that so I want to come and pack my things, that I wouldn’t do such a
thing again. And I felt nobody can threaten me in my own country. When I
told my friend who knows the Commissioner of Police about it, she said
it was a threat and advised me to take it up. But I do not want to give
the world a wrong impression about me than they already have.
Have you always wanted fame?
Nobody is born with
fame. Even Jesus Christ wasn’t born with fame, though his birth was
foretold. With me, it was a slow process. I’ve been in this industry for
almost 30 years. I started at the age of 18, and if anybody says that
at the age of 44, I’m not ripe enough for fame in this business, then I
don’t know what to say. I’ve paid my dues and walked the walk.
I
know when you used to have a store in Ikeja when you were selling stuff
and that’s quite different from what you do now, how did all this come
into play?
You see, I don’t really
want to do an interview. The truth is that I can actually stop him from
coming to London ever again. I’ll show the embassy some things and his
way will be blocked forever. If he says I abuse him, in what sense?
But why did you threaten him?
Don’t people quarrel?
Sometimes, I even threaten my children, but it doesn’t mean I’ll kill
them. I’m also a human being, and I can say anything when I’m angry.
Don’t you think this could be the reason why the relationship packed up?
No, it’s because he
needed to move on. He wanted someone to get pregnant for him by all
means, and I tried but it didn’t work. In every relationship, there will
always be differences and quarrels. Right from the beginning, I
accepted him for everything he is. It wasn’t like he was rich or had
anything…he can’t even stand me with anything. So when it’s time for him
to move on, I also have to accept him. From the beginning, I made him
know that it would not lead anywhere. I told him, let’s just be friends,
enjoy the moment and mess around which we did.
Did you enjoy the moment?
I told you earlier that I don’t regret anything I do.
If the opportunity presents itself again, would you accept him back?
I’ve finished with him, so I’ll move on.
Can you forgive him if he has hurt you?
I’m not God. Only God
can forgive anybody. I may say I’ve forgiven him, and not forgive him
finally and still have sins before God.
So you have let go of him?
Why not? I’ve never
clinged to him. It wasn’t a do-or-die affair. I’ve always known that one
day, he’ll find a way to go. I’ve even always prayed for him to have
someone good to marry.
You seem to have a fondness for younger people?
That’s the way God has
ordained it. Maybe because I’m attractive and don’t look my age. Maybe I
play the part. I’ve always had younger guys on my case. Sometimes, I
sit back and wonder what they see in me. Even when I tell them my age,
they don’t believe me.
But don’t they hurt you?
I don’t ever get hurt
because it’s not like I’m looking for kids, or that I’ve never been
married. I’ve never cried over anyone. Even when my husband left, I took
it in stride.
It
sounds ridiculous when people say you dated Kunle Afolayan when he was
still single, as well as his younger brother, Aremu, don’t you think so?
I don’t want to talk about it.
Why?
Why should I talk about it? Doesn’t it sound dirty?
But you did it?
How can I do something like that? People will always say whatever they like, especially the negative.
Doesn’t it get to you?
Of course it does, but
since my conscience is clear with God, I’m okay. Who knows, maybe that’s
why God blesses me a lot. Anything I lay my hands on prospers. I wonder
why people don’t like celebrating others, and that’s why I’ve chosen to
celebrate people. It’s not until a person dies before you celebrate
them. How many people have been able to host awards in different
countries like I’ve done? Only strong men can attempt to do something
like that. We’ve done the awards in UK, Washington DC, Nigeria, and
we’ll be having it in Dubai this year.
People also talk about your relationship with Sammy Okposo, did anything happen between you?
No, he is just my very good friend.
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