Nollywood Actress Doris Simeon Finally opens up on Stella Damasus and her husband Daniel Ademinokan's romance

Despite all the media attention on Doris' Marriage,Her husband taking off with her son and the alledged marriage to fellow actress Stella Damasus,Doris has remained mute! well untill now!

She recently opened up in an interview with The Nation

Excerpts

YOU look good as always, so what is your beauty regimen like?
Sincerely, I don’t use creams as such because of the harsh weather. When you are under the sun, you sweat a lot and when the sweat gets to a particular point, it creates a burn. So, it is better you don’t even use cream in the morning or afternoon. It’s always just good to do that at night because the weather is cool and you are indoors.

I understand you will be going to South Africa for a TV series soon. Could you tell us the secret behind this?
I would say it’s not by my doing. It’s just the grace of God. For someone to insist that it’s Doris Simeon that must be used for this particular project, it can only be God. It’s a new TV series, just like Jacobs Cross. It’s a lovely story. These guys called me early last year to tell me about the project they were working on and they promised to get back to me.
But from that time till last year, I didn’t hear anything from them. At a point, I thought they had gotten someone else. This is one thing I tell people; if it’s your job, they will definitely find you. By the grace of God, this year, I got a call from them. When I even got the call, I thought they were joking until they asked for my passport. They first asked me if I still have my South Africa visa and I said it had expired. Then, they asked me to send my passport to them. So, they processed it and eventually sent it back to me.

Why did you think you were chosen for the role?
It’s God’s grace o! Some people are better than Doris Simeon, but it’s just what God has ordained. I just thank God, so I would rather not boast that it is by my doing.

Have you seen the script? If yes, what is really fascinating about it?
I’ve seen the script and the story line is fantastic. I couldn’t drop the script until I finished reading it. When I finished reading it yesterday, I told my younger ones that by the time they shoot this movie, it should just blow out to Hollywood, not even our Idumota here (laughs). Hopefully, that’s where it’s going to.

What role are you playing in the series?
It’s a story about a family, where the children are raised in a spoilt way. The children grow up to spend lavishly and then one of them gets married. The person he gets married to is the character I’m playing. In-between the story, they all have secrets that they are now revealing. Meanwhile, there is someone in that family who wants to revenge and that is the character I am playing. I have to revenge because of what their father has done to my own family.

Could you recall ever revenging in real life?
No. I wasn’t brought up that way and one thing I always tell my younger ones is that God, who created us, forgives our sins every blessed day; so, why won’t we forgive one another. What is the worst thing that somebody can do to you? Maybe someone will kill your child, brother, mother or someone very close to you. If you then revenge by killing that person, will that make you feel fulfilled? I would rather leave the fight for God. It might hurt and, therefore, hard to forget and forgive, but you have to find a way to forget it and move on. This is because if you don’t forget and forgive, you won’t move forward in life. I would rather forget and focus on my future.


Could it be why you seem to have achieved more lately?
I think so. Therefore, rather than dwell on the past, I will think about how I can better my life. I will rather think of how I am going to be successful. Instead of thinking of how I am going to revenge and spend my money trying to revenge, I will rather leave it for God. By spending money to revenge, you might become broke in the process. Before you know it, you start to go hungry or your landlord will start to knock on your door and disgrace you because you are a star.
So, I will rather go out there, make money and even pay before my rent is due. My landlord and I are the best of friends because I pay my rent promptly. Any little thing I complain about, he takes it seriously. I am too preoccupied with a lot of positive thoughts so much that I don’t have time to dwell on negativity. And one of things that give me fulfillment is helping people. I derive pleasure in helping the less privileged.

Do you have your own foundation now?
I don’t have a foundation and I really don’t think I want to have one for now probably because a lot of people have abused it. I will rather support any other person that has. I have a strong passion for those who do not have because I know where I am coming from. I know what I went through to get to where I am today.

When was the last time you were on location?
It was in November for Iyabo Ojo’s latest flick, Silence.

Could you tell us about it?
It was very interesting probably because I like to play a lot. It is always fun for me whenever I am working. But if the job is taking a longer time than necessary, then, I will be thinking of my business. It’s a lovely film. I worked for the first time with Joseph Benjamin, Alex Osifo and some other stars. We chatted like we’ve been working together for a very long time. It is about domestic violence and step-parenting. I love doing movies that will educate and entertain.
Let’s talk ‘Faaji Extra’, the Yoruba programme that you present…
Acting in Yoruba is not the same thing as presenting in Yoruba. It was challenging because the first few episodes I shot, I had to stop the shoot to return the following day because I didn’t like what I was doing. But I was determined not to give up. And then, presenting, I think, is also part of entertainment. It was difficult for me for the first three episodes, but I just picked up afterwards. Right now, I don’t want to stop anymore. And the feedback has been good. A whole lot of people and sponsors wish to be parts of the programme.

Who is the producer?
The producer is Olaniyi Stevens. He is based in Ibadan and we shot in Ibadan. But I think the next season will be shot in Lagos State probably in April when I come back from South Africa. Hopefully, it’s going to be bigger and better this time around.

Did you have to audition for it?
No! When I was called up, I felt like of all the Yoruba actresses, omo ibo le fe (it’s an ibo girl that you want). But he said that is the whole idea, which he wants to sell: an Edo girl doing a Yoruba programme. In fact, some of the guests that came on the show were like, ‘Mehn, let’s clap for this woman’. It was fun shooting the first episode.


You said the reason you go all out to help people is because of your experience…
Well, I would say my growing up was fun. Sometime ago, I was coming back from the market with my younger ones and was listening to Olamide, where he sang that they usually lined up to enter the toilet and all those things. So, I tapped my brother, Victor, and said, ‘Do you remember those days when we would line up and you would be holding your bum, saying, ‘ Who dey inside toilet now.’ He was still a baby then. I thank God, at least, we had a roof over our head then, but some people didn’t even. One of my friends said recently that she was listening to a radio programme, where they said it is at night in Lagos that you will know how many people are homeless. You will see people sleeping on pavements and every other place and then you will thank God.

What was your dream then?
I dreamt to be as big as this, even bigger than this.

Have you always wanted to be an actress?
I have always wanted to be an entertainer. I loved entertainment when I was growing up. I loved TV a lot. I dreamt of becoming great in life and providing for my parents all they need. Though I have lost my parents, they enjoyed a little before they died. I thank God I grew up to know them. Some people did not even grow up to know their parents.

Were they still married to each other until their death?
Yes, they were still married to each other. I think it was even the love they had for each other that took the two of them because it was just a year interval.

Did you ever imagine that you were going to be separated someday?
No, I never thought I would be separated someday. Yes, it definitely hit me when it happened. But life goes on.
But a lot of people had the impression that you couldn’t be bothered and that you wanted this freedom?
No, if I wanted the freedom, I have it now; so, why am I not exploring the situation? Instead of that, I am trying to make money. I have a lot of responsibilities. So, rather than sit down and mourn all day, I have to face the reality.
My mother was a strong woman and I learnt a lot from her. She went through a lot, which I knew of from when I was a little child. In spite of all that she went through, she kept moving on. My mom had a stroke and survived it; and she still looked radiant. My mom jumped from one trade to another. When I think of that, I would be like, this woman, na you born me, I must do that thing wey you teach us. Those are the things I just look back and then I just move on. I have a child that I need to work for, so that he won’t face the kind of suffering I faced in the future.

Will you consider marriage again?
I don’t know, but I am not ruling it out because I am human. I might just fall head over heels in love again. But let me still be doing what I am doing. Wherever the Lord takes me, I will go.
What would you do differently when you find love again?
I will probably right the wrong things I did then. I mean I will do the right thing three times over.

What were those things?
Can I even point them out? I can’t point them out.
Was it that you didn’t have enough time for the family?
It wasn’t that in anyway. It is just one of those things you have to deal with. People will say one thing or the other to defend their own sides. When I’m on set, I want to quickly do whatever I am doing. This is because I see a movie script as an examination; and when you have an examination you want to quickly do it and then relax. That is the way I work. I just want to do it and know that I am done with this script, so I can face my family. So, it’s not that I get carried away with work. I just want to do the best I can at that particular time that I am doing that job and get out from that set and face my family or face whatever I need to do next.

At a time, you and Daniel were one of the best couples in Nollywood. What could have gone wrong?
Anything could have gone wrong. Anything could have triggered a fire anywhere. You don’t know what might happen the next minute. We are just trying to make things go right, but God has the final say. Yes, things happen in life and till eternity you keep asking that question what went wrong. But if you dwell on that, you won’t move forward because everything that happens has God’s hands in it. There is a reason why anything happens and it has been written that it will happen that way.

After a year, what did you do?
Funny enough, after a year, I was like, ‘Doris, how do you think you want to move on with your life? What should you do to move on? That was when I decided not to dwell on the past; otherwise, I will go hungry. People that want to laugh at me are out there, so I will rather make them say, ‘Aha Aha, what’s happening? And I am moving ahead with my life.

What is the relationship between the two of you now, given that you have a child for him?
We have a child, so we talk. The boy is there, so why won’t we talk? We cannot be sworn enemies forever. Not every relationship leads to marriage, yet the people involved still talk.

But how do you feel knowing that your colleague is supposedly married to him?
She’s a woman and he is a man. Na man I go still follow so (laughs). In this industry, most of us are colleagues; it is not that we are close friends or something. No be say na my mama born am now.

What about all those statements credited to you that you will deal with Stella Damasus?
I don’t know where they got all those stuff from. As a matter of fact, The Nation is the first newspaper I’m opening up to so much on my marriage because I know that you guys are not here to get something scandalous from me. Recently, somebody used my name on BBM to get money from people. I now traced that to a Facebook account. The person’s Facebook has my name, my pictures and everything. And they were probably getting their stories and stupid talk from all the things the person was writing. In fact, the person’s fan page has more likes than my own original fan page. Can you imagine? The person has a BB with Doris Simeon and she was telling people she wants to do a movie that they should send N10,000 into a certain account.