Irewole Olaniyan Denies Knowingly Dating a Married Man After Wife’s Public Allegations
Nollywood actress Irewole Olaniyan has responded to claims that she was involved with a married man. She says she did not know he was married and ended contact once she found out. The allegations are unproven, and the man has not been publicly named in the reports we reviewed.
What the wife alleged
A woman identified as Mary Edris, who says she is the man’s wife, made a lengthy social media post accusing the actress of an affair of about three years with her husband. She said she had approached Irewole privately before going public. She also claimed that Irewole had at first said she did not know he was married, and that the relationship nevertheless continued.
Mary further alleged that her husband helped fund Irewole’s film projects, trips and gifts, and that the two travelled to South Africa in September 2024. Several outlets report that her original post has since been deleted.
The actress’s response
Irewole replied in a statement on her Instagram page on Saturday, October 3. She admitted she had gone out with the man, but described it as a few dates rather than a long relationship, and said she ended it as soon as she learned of his marital status. She also said this happened before his wife contacted her.
In her words: “I genuinely didn’t know he was married.”
She added that she apologised to the wife, that the man kept contacting her afterwards, and that she felt the wife had read her lifestyle and outings with her own partner as proof that she dated married men. A restaurant had posted a video of one of the outings, and Irewole said this showed she had nothing to hide because she did not know.
Where things stand
The two accounts differ on how long the relationship lasted and on what Irewole knew. We have not independently verified either claim. Neither side had issued further statements at the time of writing, and we will update this report if they do.
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