Have you heard? A new group of ladies has arrived in town and they are not here to play games. Lagos finally debuted its very own production of Real Housewives and we’re here for it. The streaming service, Showmax announced the arrival of the show in late March. Lagos residents seemed to be excited over the caliber of women that have been selected. This group is made up of six affluent women and some of the most influential from Lagos. By now, the series has given you a peek into their opulent and oh so extra lifestyles.
THE REAL HOUSEWIVES
RHOLagos is the first Nigerian installment of the popular and award-winning franchise which is distributed internationally by NBCUniversal formats, a division of Universal Studio Group. Real Housewives of Lagos will be the third adaptation of Real Housewives in Africa, following – Real Housewives of Johannesburg, and Real Housewives of Durban. The franchise is on its 16th International version of the format, definitely a huge milestone.
The show gives us a look into a unique side of Nigeria, and with all the high fashion and luxury shown, it’s giving exactly that! We are seeing big, wealthy, charitable personalities and lifestyles. Nigerians being known for having loud personalities we obviously were expecting lots of drama which has been given to us on a silver platter. But it’s also giving glam and entrepreneurial spirit and we definitely love the mix.
MEET THE LADIES
Iyabo Ojo
Iyabo is a Nigerian actress, producer, TikTok sensation, and brand influencer. On the business side, she’s an entrepreneur, founder and president of Pinkies Foundation, and CEO of Fepris Limited. Ojo is a divorced mother of two.
Laura Ikeji-Kanu
Laura is the author of a book titled ‘How to make money on Instagram: The brand influencer guide.’ She’s also a social media influencer and an entrepreneur. She is a married mother of two, married to retired professional football player Christopher Kanu.
Toyin Lawani-Adebayo
Toyin is an entrepreneur, renowned celebrity stylist, fashion designer, and business mogul of Tiannah’s Place Empire. She’s also the author of The Business Mogul Guide and runs a charity organization, The Toyin Lawani Foundation.
Chioma Ikokwu
Chioma is a lawyer and co-founder, and CEO of the luxury hair brand Good Hair Ltd. She also co-owns a restaurant and lounge in Nigeria called Brass and Copper. She runs a women and children-focused charity called the Goodway Foundation and is well-known on social media for her fashion, luxury, and lifestyle. Chioma is the only member of The Real Housewives of Lagos cast that has never been married.
Mariam Timmer
Mariam is an entrepreneur, PR expert, and chief executive director at Six Sixteen Agency. She’s the creative director for an online retail fashion line, and also does content creation. Mariam is married to businessman John Timmer and they have a daughter together.
Carolyna Hutchings
Carolyna is the CEO of a real estate, oil & gas, and agriculture company called Hutchings Limited. She is also the founder of Hopeville Foundation, an NGO that caters to women and children. Hutchings is a divorced mother of three.
ICYMI: EPISODE 1 – 8 IN SUMMARY
The Begining
In episode two, Iyabo is the first to host the ladies for an event, a beach house getaway. Laura did not go to the event as she said she’s not friends with half the ladies there. Being the direct person Iyabo is, she called Laura for a face-to-face where she told her how she felt about her not participating in her getaway. Laura apologized to Iyabo saying she’s afraid of boats, and they reconciled. Laura, however, told Iyabo that if she had gone on the trip she would’ve given Carolyna a dirty slap. This is following the things she was saying during a friendly game afternoon at the beach house.
Update: At the getaway, Carolyna was making fun of Laura, and her sister. Iyabo mentioned this to Laura during their meeting and Laura was mad! On the other hand, Carolyna’s friendship with Chioma was getting serious. In episode three, we saw the two bonding over their bling shopping.
PICKING SIDES…
Carolyna hosted the second event. Upon arrival, Chioma confronted Laura about the statement she made about slapping Carolyna. Laura was shocked that Iyabo threw her under the bus. While Carolyna was reeling over this, Iyabo defended her decision to relay the conversation to Chioma saying she doesn’t need permission to speak about things. BETRAYAL! Laura ended up trying to clear the air, saying she wouldn’t put her hands on anyone. She said she was just offended that Carolyna said things about her blogger sister, Linda Ikeji. Carolyna responded, stating that Laura’s sister had written very hurtful things about her in the past regarding her collapsing marriage and speculations about her daughter’s paternity.
Carolyna and Laura’s feud created sides. With Iyabo throwing Laura under the bus with Chioma and Chioma being besties with Carolyna, it was clear how things would play out from there.
THE SCENE THAT HAD ALL OF US SCREAMING!!
Episode eight has been the messiest of them all. It all started with Chioma and Carolyna making a norm out of being late for the ladies’ events. Laura decided to voice her thoughts on ladies always coming late which resulted in a heated exchange of words on their WhatsApp group. Iyabo then decided to host an emergency meeting in hopes to resolve the matter. However, we are all aware that it actually was just to gang up on Laura. It seemed the ladies had a separate meeting before that based on the reactions.
Carolyna drags Laura, Literary!
Earlier this season, we saw some major jabs between Laura and Carolyna. This is after Laura told Carolyna to keep her sister’s name out of her mouth. Now just to catch you up: Laura’s sister is a controversial blogger. Seemingly she spoke about Carolyn’s marriage and that’s basically where the conflict began.
While everyone was addressing Laura’s behavior at Mariam’s dinner, Mariam addressed Laura’s rude remarks at the dinner table. Toyin (who’s the closest to Laura) also had her moment which led to the ladies feeling like they had more ammunition over Laura. Things took a seriously violent turn when Laura said if Carolyna mentioned her sister again she would “physically harm her” to which Carolyna responded, “you should do that now!”. As if that scene was not dramatic enough, Carolyna then threw the accusation that contrary to the story Laura shared about trying to sell her book to a certain Nigerian governor, Laura was in fact brought before the governor to be pimped.
It’s at this point that they started swearing at each other. Laura stood up and threw water at Carolyna ehich led to Carolyna taking the floor and going hard on Laura by spilling a drink on her and almost hitting her with a glass. Sparks flew as the two wanted to hit each other. Mariam was pushed flat on the floor trying to stop the altercation. HECTIC!!
The best one yet…
The Real Housewives of Lagos installment has given Africans one thing that has been missing from the other installments. A combination of luxury, flair, and mess is just what the installment is about – affluent women. This is one group that has combined versatility, entrepreneurship, and fame, making the show really entertaining to watch.
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