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| Mr and Mrs Ayo |
Multi-award winning, South Africa-based Nigerian gospel artiste, Kunle Ayo, is married to his manager, Adeola. They speak about their union:
How did you meet your wife?
Kunle: I met my wife while I was writing the General Certificate of Education examination in 1992/93. I had failed English Language twice consecutively and we met at my third trial. We just exchanged pleasantries and were quite younger at that time. After the examinations, our paths crossed every other year. I attended the Federal Polytechnic Ilaro while she schooled in Ilorin. Over the years, we became friends and I moved to South Africa but we still kept in touch and always met at events. We never really dated, I wanted to date her then but she was not interested. In 2011, I was single again and visited Nigeria. We met, went on a date and I proposed to her later on. We eventually got married and relocated to South Africa.
How did your husband propose to you? Was it romantic?
Adeola: We were actually in the middle of a heated argument when he proposed and I had to let all the fury go.
What were the initial attractions?
Kunle: It was the usual youthful exuberance of young guys wanting to date beautiful girls. She was and still is beautiful.
Adeola: I love his soft-hearted nature and he is a very hardworking man. He encourages me and pushes me hard to be a better person
At what point did you decide to marry her?
Kunle: That was when we met again in 2011; I felt there was something about her that kept bringing her my way. I proposed to her and she accepted immediately because we already knew each other and had been meeting constantly. Also, she realised I was serious.
While you courted, did you feel he could disappoint you at any minute?
Adeola: Somehow, I felt that way but I also realised that we all are not perfect and I was determined to make it work.
Did any of your family members oppose your decision to get married?
Kunle: We were adults and mature enough to know what we wanted.
What were the initial challenges after you got married?
Kunle: I had been living in South Africa for more than nine years at that time and I had a certain orientation about women having dated a few South African women. My concept of what a woman should or not do was quite different when we got married. It was a bit challenging and I had to let go of every preconceived notion. I convinced myself that I wanted to make it work and decided to make it work. It is not the Nigerian culture for a man to wash the dishes or do other chores but I had to make the sacrifices.
As a gospel artiste, were you under pressure to get married?
Kunle: Not really; I was once married to a South African woman and it did not work out so we went our separate ways. I was not under pressure but I just wanted to get married to the right person.
What lessons did you learn from your first marriage?
Kunle: I learnt patience and how to be understanding from my previous relationship. I got to know my spouse, opened myself to understand her and I am happy about it.
How would you describe the marriage so far?
Kunle: It has been fantastic. We still have our issues but I am happy with everything. It was a bit tough in the first year but we overcame it and it became better.
Adeola: It’s been awesome and I thank God that we found a meaningful friendship in each other. We do everything together from praying together, working together, eating together, traveling together and more.
How would you describe your wife?
Kunle: She is a very perceptive woman, she is my best friend and always sure of herself. She is bold and courageous and she is a wonderful person. She could come across as being difficult sometimes because she does not pretend, but she has a sweet soul.
How often do you have misunderstandings and who apologises first?
Adeola: I am a bit stubborn but he is very understanding and tries to apologise first even when I know I am wrong.
Kunle: I am very quick with the apologies and quick to say sorry. I realised that it takes a while for people to say it. She has learnt from me apologises.
What are some of the things she does to get you angry?
Kunle: She gets me angry every day, but I know she means well for me so I always get over it.
What things would you like to change about him?
Adeola: He trusts people easily and they disappoint him most of the time. I just wish he can be firmer in some decisions he makes.
What are some of the things you do not like about him?
Adeola: He runs late for meetings, rehearsals and I do not like it as I want him to always be on time.
As his manager, how do you both handle erring fans, especially of the opposite sex?
Adeola: We both try to be cool and if we observe members of the opposite sex coming on strong, we avoid them and don’t lead them on. We try to keep it friendly, professional but not chase them away.
As a celebrity, what are some of the things you do to ensure you have a successful marriage and protect it from scandal?
Kunle: My marriage is between my wife and I; I am open in my dealings with her and I am truthful as well. We run our business together and she is my manager so it is difficult to separate my personal life from my business life with her.
How do you spend time as a couple?
Kunle: We have movie nights sometimes and because women like to talk, overtime I have come to enjoy having her narrate the movies to me. But sometimes when I have event to perform, I need my time and space to be creative. She understands that now.
With your artiste-manager status, do you both run a joint bank account?
Kunle: We run separate accounts but she has access to the company account. When a client makes payment into the account, she is able to disburse the funds. But recently, I opened a separate account because some women are not good with savings. Sometimes they do not understand that money that is being saved is meant for a particular purpose.
What would be your advice to celebrities?
Kunle: I would advise them to be truthful and open and make all efforts to make their marriage work, although it can be difficult. There is nothing as good as being married and staying married.
What would be your advice to intending couples and celebrity spouses?
Adeola: They should marry their best friend and not be pushed into making wrong decisions in life. I met Kunle when we were writing our GCE exams over 23years ago and somehow we just never lost touch. Our paths crossed year after year and finally reunited in 2011 and got married 2013. It seems like a long time but God saved the best for me.
What pet names do you call her?
Kunle: I call her a funny name, Munchu Kumchu
Adeola: I call him Babes.
How did you meet your wife?
Kunle: I met my wife while I was writing the General Certificate of Education examination in 1992/93. I had failed English Language twice consecutively and we met at my third trial. We just exchanged pleasantries and were quite younger at that time. After the examinations, our paths crossed every other year. I attended the Federal Polytechnic Ilaro while she schooled in Ilorin. Over the years, we became friends and I moved to South Africa but we still kept in touch and always met at events. We never really dated, I wanted to date her then but she was not interested. In 2011, I was single again and visited Nigeria. We met, went on a date and I proposed to her later on. We eventually got married and relocated to South Africa.
How did your husband propose to you? Was it romantic?
Adeola: We were actually in the middle of a heated argument when he proposed and I had to let all the fury go.
What were the initial attractions?
Kunle: It was the usual youthful exuberance of young guys wanting to date beautiful girls. She was and still is beautiful.
Adeola: I love his soft-hearted nature and he is a very hardworking man. He encourages me and pushes me hard to be a better person
At what point did you decide to marry her?
Kunle: That was when we met again in 2011; I felt there was something about her that kept bringing her my way. I proposed to her and she accepted immediately because we already knew each other and had been meeting constantly. Also, she realised I was serious.
While you courted, did you feel he could disappoint you at any minute?
Adeola: Somehow, I felt that way but I also realised that we all are not perfect and I was determined to make it work.
Did any of your family members oppose your decision to get married?
Kunle: We were adults and mature enough to know what we wanted.
What were the initial challenges after you got married?
Kunle: I had been living in South Africa for more than nine years at that time and I had a certain orientation about women having dated a few South African women. My concept of what a woman should or not do was quite different when we got married. It was a bit challenging and I had to let go of every preconceived notion. I convinced myself that I wanted to make it work and decided to make it work. It is not the Nigerian culture for a man to wash the dishes or do other chores but I had to make the sacrifices.
As a gospel artiste, were you under pressure to get married?
Kunle: Not really; I was once married to a South African woman and it did not work out so we went our separate ways. I was not under pressure but I just wanted to get married to the right person.
What lessons did you learn from your first marriage?
Kunle: I learnt patience and how to be understanding from my previous relationship. I got to know my spouse, opened myself to understand her and I am happy about it.
How would you describe the marriage so far?
Kunle: It has been fantastic. We still have our issues but I am happy with everything. It was a bit tough in the first year but we overcame it and it became better.
Adeola: It’s been awesome and I thank God that we found a meaningful friendship in each other. We do everything together from praying together, working together, eating together, traveling together and more.
How would you describe your wife?
Kunle: She is a very perceptive woman, she is my best friend and always sure of herself. She is bold and courageous and she is a wonderful person. She could come across as being difficult sometimes because she does not pretend, but she has a sweet soul.
How often do you have misunderstandings and who apologises first?
Adeola: I am a bit stubborn but he is very understanding and tries to apologise first even when I know I am wrong.
Kunle: I am very quick with the apologies and quick to say sorry. I realised that it takes a while for people to say it. She has learnt from me apologises.
What are some of the things she does to get you angry?
Kunle: She gets me angry every day, but I know she means well for me so I always get over it.
What things would you like to change about him?
Adeola: He trusts people easily and they disappoint him most of the time. I just wish he can be firmer in some decisions he makes.
What are some of the things you do not like about him?
Adeola: He runs late for meetings, rehearsals and I do not like it as I want him to always be on time.
As his manager, how do you both handle erring fans, especially of the opposite sex?
Adeola: We both try to be cool and if we observe members of the opposite sex coming on strong, we avoid them and don’t lead them on. We try to keep it friendly, professional but not chase them away.
As a celebrity, what are some of the things you do to ensure you have a successful marriage and protect it from scandal?
Kunle: My marriage is between my wife and I; I am open in my dealings with her and I am truthful as well. We run our business together and she is my manager so it is difficult to separate my personal life from my business life with her.
How do you spend time as a couple?
Kunle: We have movie nights sometimes and because women like to talk, overtime I have come to enjoy having her narrate the movies to me. But sometimes when I have event to perform, I need my time and space to be creative. She understands that now.
With your artiste-manager status, do you both run a joint bank account?
Kunle: We run separate accounts but she has access to the company account. When a client makes payment into the account, she is able to disburse the funds. But recently, I opened a separate account because some women are not good with savings. Sometimes they do not understand that money that is being saved is meant for a particular purpose.
What would be your advice to celebrities?
Kunle: I would advise them to be truthful and open and make all efforts to make their marriage work, although it can be difficult. There is nothing as good as being married and staying married.
What would be your advice to intending couples and celebrity spouses?
Adeola: They should marry their best friend and not be pushed into making wrong decisions in life. I met Kunle when we were writing our GCE exams over 23years ago and somehow we just never lost touch. Our paths crossed year after year and finally reunited in 2011 and got married 2013. It seems like a long time but God saved the best for me.
What pet names do you call her?
Kunle: I call her a funny name, Munchu Kumchu
Adeola: I call him Babes.
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