Many showbiz pundits often wonder why most celebrities thrive at everything else except love and marriage? They strive to build a career or name for themselves yet fail at making their relationships work.
When news broke of the split between Gbenro Ajibade and Osa Ighodaro, fans of the couple were heartbroken. They lamented over the crash of a love affair that seemed like love story from a movie.
According to a study by the Marriage Foundation UK, celebrity marriages crash at a rate twice that of regular marriages. The huge publicity that surrounds celebrity weddings has done much to drive spiraling public expectations of what weddings should be like for the rest of us as individuals. This is the reason why most Nigerian celebrities are opting for secret weddings devoid of media attention.
Why it is not bad to admire couples, we should also note that the camera doesn’t capture the ugly scenes in their lives. They are human and infallible.
INFIDELITY
Infidelity is one of the top reasons why celebrity marriages hit the rock. One of the most ugly and most documented Nigerian celebrity breakups is the marital collapse of the union between Tonto Dikeh and her ex-husband, Olakunle Churchill.
Following the crash of their marriage, Tonto talked about many of the issues she faced within her marriage – one of them being infidelity. In the same vein, Tiwa Savage’s marriage crash was one of the most talked about celebrity break ups. TeeBillz, her ex-husband came out in a rant in 2016 to accuse her of being unfaithful to him saying she slept with Don Jazzy, Dr. Sid, and even 2 Face. Tiwa denied the accusations in an interview, adding that it was TeeBillz who cheated on her.
EGO
Ego is also another sad reason why celebrity marriages crash. Celebrities are used to being the centre of attention. When this desire for attention isn’t balanced, it may lead to a marriage crash. According to a family life therapist, Praise Fowowe: “For those who find themselves on the red carpet consistently, when they get married, they don’t know how to switch from red carpet to domestic mode so they still carry the red carpet mentality into their homes. At home, I’m a husband to my wife, a father to my children. I will be stupid to expect my wife to accord me the respect my fans accord me. She did not marry a celeb, she married a Praise Fowowe. That’s why I don’t know the difference between red or green or blue carpet. When people live their lives thinking that endorsement deals are a big deal then there is no way their marriages won’t crash”.
JEALOUSY
Sadly, jealousy creeps in when one partner is more successful than the other (especially if they are on the same career path). One of the alleged reasons why Mercy Aigbe’s marriage to Lanre Gentry crashed was because at some point, the actress’ ex-husband was exhibiting traits of jealousy.
SOCIAL MEDIA
A recent study, published in Computers in Human Behavior, compared state-by-state divorce rates to per-capita Facebook accounts. The study found a link between social media use and decreased marriage quality in every model analyzed.
It also found that a 20% annual increase in Facebook enrollment was associated with a 2.18% to 4.32% increase in divorce rates. The study’s model from the individual survey results predicts that people that do not use social media are 11% happier in their marriages than people that regularly use social media.
With smartphones and social media apps, it’s never been easier for dissatisfied spouses to look for a new relationship, get in contact with an ex, or seek out a fling. A whopping 30% of Tinder users are married. Sites like AshleyMadison.com even cater to married people looking for affairs – over 130 million people worldwide visit Ashley Madison each month.
Before their eventual divorce, the cracks in the crashed unions of celebrities like Tiwa Savage, IK Ogbonna, Mercy Aigbe, Muma Gee and that of others, got exposed on first on social media.