Nollywood actress, Iretiola Doyle, has revealed her harrowing experience after she got pregnant at age 17.
Speaking recently at Harvesters International Christian Centre, Lagos, the 50-year-old, who is now married to Nollywood actor and broadcaster, Patrick Doyle, revealed that her mother and other family members were hard on her over the pregnancy.
According to the The Wedding Party actress “My mother didn’t take it lightly with me. I wouldn’t have handled it the way she did because I belong to a different generation.”
She, however, added that other people came to her rescue,
“I was nurtured by people I met and they constantly reminded me that my life didn’t end with that bad situation.
“You have to surround yourself with people who love and support you. I was blessed to have people around me; unfortunately, these people are not family members.”
The mother of six further said “I felt I still remained who I was. I came from a very good home, not by wealth but value. Education was not negotiable in my family. I didn’t want that one mistake to define who I was. But it was quite difficult for me because it was the talk of the town for quite a number of years.”
That pregnancy produced a girl, Abimbola Ozofor, who got married in 2014.
Ireti was born on May 3, 1967, in Ondo State but spent her early years with her family in Boston, United States.
She returned to Nigeria and attended Christ’s School Ado Ekiti and later graduated from the University of Jos with a degree in Theatre Arts.
With over two decades in the field, her credits cut across stage, television, film and print.
She is an accomplished writer, actor, producer and presenter having featured in several productions namely Morning Ride, Today on STV, This Week on Channels TV, Tempest, Fuji House of Commotion, The Arbitration and many others.
