Ruth Kadiri Opens Up on ‘Phobia’ of Marriage That Led Her to Keep Wedding Private
Nollywood actress and producer Ruth Kadiri has opened up about why she chose to keep her marriage away from public view, revealing that fear and uncertainty about the union’s future shaped her decision to have a small, private wedding.
Speaking during a recent episode of the “Dear Ife” podcast, Kadiri explained that she battled what she described as a phobia of marriage in the lead-up to her wedding, driven by anxiety over the unknown and doubts about whether the decision would ultimately work out. According to the actress, that uncertainty made her hesitant to commit to a large, highly publicised ceremony, a position her husband fully supported.
The mother of two disclosed that the couple ultimately settled on inviting only 50 guests to their wedding, split evenly with 25 invited by her husband and 25 by herself. She explained that beyond her personal anxieties about marriage, she also wanted to avoid the kind of public drama and scrutiny that often surrounds celebrity relationships, adding that had she been based abroad, she believed they likely would have opted for an even simpler registry wedding.
In earlier remarks on the subject, Kadiri had described the decision to keep her marriage private as one of the best choices she has made, crediting it with helping her remain grounded and shielding her relationship from unnecessary outside scrutiny and influence. She noted that the arrangement has also protected her husband, who is not a public figure, from the pressures that typically come with celebrity association, allowing him to continue living a relatively normal life away from the spotlight.
The actress was, however, keen to clarify that her privacy around the marriage does not amount to deliberately hiding her husband from the public. She noted that the couple regularly attend church services and public events together, and that people who are close to her are well acquainted with him, even though he remains unrecognisable to the wider public simply because he is not a celebrity.
Kadiri, who hails from Edo State and studied Mass Communication at the University of Lagos, ventured into Nollywood through the movie “Boys Cot” and has since built an extensive filmography spanning more than fifty movies. She and her husband were married in a private ceremony, and the union has since been blessed with two daughters, born in August 2019 and July 2022 respectively.
Kadiri’s candid reflections on marriage and privacy add to a broader trend of Nigerian celebrities using podcast platforms to speak openly about personal milestones and relationship decisions, offering fans a rare glimpse into aspects of their lives typically kept away from public discourse.
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