ow did this love transcend from off screen to real life?
Dami: Honestly, it took a while actually. I met Chris at the first photoshoot we did for the Tinsel show and it was the first that all the lead casts of the Tinsel show would be meeting each other. The guys from Ghana were coming into Lagos for the shoot and it really took a long time for them to get there. It was a really long day and I remember seeing him as I was going out of the hotel for some fresh air; he was at the reception trying to find his way and I literally stopped in my tracks. I was blown away by his good looks‘ gosh! He looked so handsome, so tall, dark and absolutely gorgeous’ I remember thinking and asking to myself‘ wow! Is he one of us? And a few minutes later we had a conversation and I totally loved him even more. He was such a perfect package. My kind of guy a 100 percentage. There was certainly no doubt that I had feelings for him from the minute I set my eyes on him but I decided to take things slow; be good friends and great colleagues and honestly it did help that we were seeing each other every day and working with each other got us even closer. We really connected and I really liked him on all levels. That whole experience was a very interesting phase in my life. And gradually it grew from what it was then to what it is now. On and off set we became inseparable they were really good times. I will also add that everyone on the tinsel set were kind of rooting for us to be together and that kind of helped. I think they sensed that we were in love and would make a perfect couple, so they all used to look forward to our kissing scenes and the chemistry that we shared on screen. Even the viewers at the time felt the same way. I think it was just everything- the atmosphere, our on screen chemistry, and our feelings and how we connected with each other on different levels.
Was it more of love at first sight or did working together have a major role to play?
Chris: It was definitely attraction at first sight and it wasn’ t anything simple. It was a massive wave of attraction when we first met. On the first day of Tinsel, everyone got to meet each other and basically bonded. We didn’ t know the whole crew would turn into a huge family but this eventually happened. It’ s been almost 10 years that Tinsel’ s been running and I remember it fresh like yesterday, when I walked into the room and noticed that beautiful young lady and I thought to myself‘ hmmmm, I like me some of that’ honestly that was all I thought( laughs). I actually didn’ t think it would get to this point but it’ s refreshing to know that I tasted, enjoyed and simply couldn’ t get enough of her, so I made her mine( laughs). It was definitely like at first sight and on the first date we shared a lot of amazing things that I don’ t think most people share on their first dates. The relationship started off from a genuine friendship and then it grew into something more. There was a time we had a break, because I left Nigeria and the distance wasn’ t helping us. We remained good friends for a very long time which also helped me in learning how to be her friend and be there for her in one way or the other we found ourselves falling for each other all over again at different times. We just finally decided to give the relationship room to thrive and when we did it flourished into marriage. I also admired her talent a lot. I think I’ m Dami’ s biggest fan. She has an incredible talent to act and as an actress, she would completely steal all the attention from everybody else on set. Which is an amazing thing every director wants. That is one of the many things about her that has appealed to me aside the other obvious features. The time we spent working together was a very good opportunity to test ourselves and understand each other’ s obligations. Work definitely played a major role in helping us get closer. A man becomes his environment and Dami was part of that.
Dami: Well, for me it was definitely love at first sight. It felt really weird the first time I saw him and I honestly don’ t think that I have felt that way about anybody before and I remember thinking about it from the beginning- there’ s something so strange about him, I would ask myself‘ could he really be the one’ and then having to work together for that period of time just further sealed the deal for me. You know that sometimes you have these feelings and after dealing with the person for a while, you find out they really are not what you are looking for. But spending a lot of time with him only convinced me more and more that it was him I really wanted to be with.
56 | BLANCK MAGAZINE | MAY 2015