Love him or loathe him, Jim Iyke is one of the very few Nollywood
stars who have a knack for gaining attention. From his bad boy/lover boy
movie persona to his more than fair share of media outbursts, not to
mention the whole AMVCA fiasco, Jim Iyke has lived his life in the pages
of newspapers. His controversial lifestyle has become a way of life for
him, yet he’s the most sought after in the industry.
In an attempt to give a new meaning to his life, Jim during the week
debuted with his reality TV show on DStv called, Jim Iyke Unscripted,
where he decides to unveil himself to the world. In this engaging
interview, he talks about the show, the man, Jim Iyke and his many
undoings.
What’s Jim Iyke Unscripted all about?
It’s a chronicle of my everyday life. An unbarred access into my life by
cameras which capture the essence of my existence. Mostly my beliefs,
my philosophy, my ideology and my everyday life. I wanted a perspective
that is entirely mine so that when people choose to make judgments about
me, my brand and life, they will have a second thought. For once in my
life, I want people to see me in my entirety without bias and to judge
me without prejudice. This is the platform for me to tell my story not
doctored, unscripted and on a different platform.
How long did it take you to conceptualise this idea?
They have been chasing me around to actualise this dream since middle of
last year. Initially, I refused doing it. But you see, I was bored
while sojourning in Nollywood. It’s the same run-of-the mill. I’m not
saying that Nollywood is not a great entity because it’s the industry
that made me who I am today. I am eternally grateful to Nollywood. But
there is need for me to move on and stop travelling in circle.
I think it was at this point that the idea was born. I didn’t
believe in a reality TV show. I have paid my dues in every respect. I
was waiting for the time the right role will come my way. It was at that
point, that Greyology Inc started managing me. According to them, I
was picked because they thought I was the only person who could
propagate the African brand. I felt honoured.
However, in the course of our discussion,I was eager to know the next
step to take. OH Africa and AfricaMagic at that point told me that I
live a very interesting life that involves travelling around the globe.
In fact, I travel to an average of twelve countries every year on my own
personal capacity. They were also eager to know what I do in these
countries. And when I told them, they were excited, hence they
suggested that we capture my travelling life through a reality TV show.
Initially, I didn’t buy the idea as I never believed in a reality TV
show. But on a second thought, I said to myself whether I like it or
not, reality TV is the new TV show. The biggest of the names are doing
it, and the ones who are not involved are trying to be part of it. TV
content is becoming increasingly boring, you need to hold an audience
that cut across every facet of life. And the only thing that brings them
together is a reality TV show.
I knew it was coming and the question is, who is going to be in the
forefront when it arrives. Am I going to keep refusing and be another
guy that is experimenting on an idea that has already been experimented.
I have never shy away from taking bold decisions or going against the
dream.
They went further to argue that the entirety of my brand and my
person has always been taken from the point of view of others, namely,
the press, my family, my friends, people that are not really my friends
and bloggers. There has always been a story to tell about me and people
have drawn conclusion based on what they read in the dailies and
soft-sell magazines and created their own judgement from it.
You travelled to how many countries to shoot the series?
We travelled to over eight countries and ten cities to shoot the series.
Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, London, Armsterdam, America, Dubai and Nigeria.
In every sense of the word, it got a global perspective.
Before coming up with this project, there was another project you anchored called, Jewel for Jim. What happened to the show?
It was a novel idea at that point in time. But everything in life has
time frame. It was about me looking for love in continental America.
While I wasn’t given to it, I thought it was fun travelling from city to
city. I was in America for two months, and there was this group of nice
people who offered to bankroll my stay in America, just for us to have
fun. They sold the idea of the project, Jewel for Jim. But at a point, a
better part of me cautioned and said, hold on, this is not where you
should be heading to. At that point, I pulled out.
Did you find the love you were looking for thereafter?
I didn’t find a brass. There were a lot of Latino women, Caribbean
women, Africans in the diaspora. Seeing all kinds of not too delectable
women. It was a bit flattery.I retraced my steps the moment I realised
it wasn’t the right place for me to be.
In your opinion, would you say, you have been misunderstood over the years?
I have always been misunderstood. Many times when things happen, I
hardly come out to state my own side of the story. This is because I
hate to join issues with anybody. Nobody likes to be intensively
scrutinised. I have felt that intrusion in the deepest part of my life. I
think that’s what made me to rebel to some extent. You know what
happens when fingers are pointed at you. I’ve seen people who do not
live a normal life, yet they are first to point accusing fingers at
others.
The press didn’t help matters in my case. Who is paying the price?
They forget that I have a family which I’m answerable to. It’s my
parents who get hurt whenever wrong things are written about me.
People who are dear to me probably do not find what they are doing very
funny. So, while these were going on, it degenerated to the point where
it became a way of life for me. It became a belief in Nigeria and
Africa. And everybody that has been affiliated with my brand over the
years readily embraced it.
Unscripted has given me an avenue to revisit every issue that has
been an issue in my life. It came up during the course of our shooting
the series. One way or the other, on the social media, with the print
and electronic, personal issues with friends and fans which I’ve taken
actions in the wrongest forms. In such little thing as business, people
do business and end up in court because of disagreement.
And while it’s easy to point accusing fingers at me and call me names
because I’m in the limelight and of course, pointing accusing fingers
at me will make news. People forget that I’m a normal human being that
is going through the normal issues in terms of business transactions. I
can’t come out to claim that some people tried to defraud me because
nobody knows them. At the end of the day, it takes the strongest of
character to survive all the ordeals.
And while I’ve survived it, it has made me stronger and wiser. Yes, I
don’t shy away from life experiences and I’m not ashamed of them. They
don’t embarrass me because I’ve embraced them. They inform me, they
order my steps, they strengthen my conviction and tell me the direction
to follow. And that I think more than anything else re-enforces my
philosophy.
Jim Iyke has virtually achieved everything he set out to
achieve, except finding the love of his life. Is Jim ever thinking of
settling down?
We are on it, and I’m working even harder in my career too. I don’t
know anyone that works harder than I do. But again, I enjoyed my
relationships on the pages of newspapers and I know it always ends
adversely. So, I’ll rather keep this one very close to my chest and
when we are both ready, we’ll announce to the whole world.
Are you saying you are in a relationship at the moment?
I didn’t say yes or no. Anybody can think whatever he or she likes.
But isn’t that the problem because you hardly say anything and people put words into your mouth?
They don’t put words into my mouth. They put words into their own
mouths. That is what informs the essence of my brand. The fact that it’s
easy for people to blow things out of proportion and we create the
excitement as it seems. I can’t help that course, and why I said this,
is that it can’t help my brand. Personally, it caused me a great deal of
distress. At the end of the day, somebody suffers for it every time the
wrong conclusion is made-either somebody is doing business or about to
do business with me.
Was it something you wanted to create; the bad boy of Nollywood?
It wasn’t what I set out to create. It was forced on me to make a little
noise with it. Everybody has a claim to fame and obviously, it was
because of the few roles I played when I started acting which happened
to be bad boy roles. So, it’s easy when you are dealing with a country
where certain things are consciously embraced. Nigerians are stubborn in
what they accept and it’s very hard to break it.
We are very traditional thinkers. So, if Nigerians label somebody as
‘a bad person’, it becomes a trademark. Importantly, when you weigh
your pros and cons, it comes to a point where you throw your hands up
and surrender. As long as people that care for me, no matter how small
they are, I’ll survive. It is not the best notion, but I’ve always
survived. Unscripted is the wisest project for me to embark upon.
What are we expecting to see in Jim Iyke Unscripted?
Expect everything that’s unplanned, a risk and people with a logical
view will not say or do. There are things in Unscripted that will hurt
me but I just want to tell my story. I’m tired of being judged for the
wrong reason. I want to give people a proper perspective. When you have a
proper perspective, then, you’re being judged in totality and not in a
biased way. I just want to tell my story because I’m tired of people
telling my story for me whether in good or in bad faith.
Will you say it’s a way of re-branding yourself?
Re-branding is making it commercial because people’s argument is that I
was paid a lot of money to do it. It’s not shady and I have some kind of
incentives to do this. It’s not easy to take a large number of people
across the globe to shoot the series because that’s what my life is all
about.
It’s easier to budget myself into my day’s endeavour but to take in
all lessons and everybody wants to have the best of things. So, it takes
a lot of money. The returns were not shady but the focal point is to
tell a story that’s been told for over a decade by people that were not
in the know. Whatever anybody wants to say in the simplest form is that
it came from the horse’s mouth.
How do you relate with women around you?
I grew up among women. It’s another thing that people find very hard to
embrace. I grew up traditionally. I have traditional Igbo parents. No
matter how enlightened you are, your people are domiciled on tradition
and culture. A Nigerian is a Nigerian and trust me, I’ve travelled round
the globe and I can pick our people out from a crowd of millions
without saying a word.
I’m a Nigerian. I propagate this gospel anywhere I go to. We are
arrogant and rash, we are one in five and we cannot go unnoticed. So,
when you are in a place headlining people that are smart, you have to be
exceptional. Our women are the same; outgoing, strong, goal-getters
even when they are doing the wrong things, they do it with an air of
certainty.
So, I grew up with open-minded women and if you are a man who is
not strong, you may find their ways reprehensible. If you grow up in
such a circle, your first friends are women. I’ve dated people who
always question my relationship with other women. How can you tell me a
woman is your best friend and you are with me? But then, I’ve made men
my best friend and they didn’t add any value to my life. But because I
grew up in the company of women, I understand how it works. I know how
to demarcate the two boundaries.
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