THE story of Gideon Okeke’s success in the world of entertainment, which includes anchoring occasions as MC, acting and show host cum presenter is one that is riveting.
It’s not often that a trained Applied Biochemist from the Nnamdi Azikwe University will pick up an interest in entertainment and make it a career and a financially rewarding one that sees him easily glide into entertainment like a second skin.
Okeke is one of the few, who have nailed such transitions, and he’s been at it for quite a while now.
After coming to fame on the first-ever edition of the Big Brother Nigeria show, Okeke transitioned from being a reality TV star to an actor, MC, show presenter within a year, but it didn’t come on a platter.
Little did many of his fans know that the Tinsel actor has been acting since primary school and directing since secondary school. Widely referred to as Ogidigada, Okeke failed to return to finish his final year after Big Brother but rather auditioned and got the part of Phillip Ade-Williams on Tinsel.
That role changed his trajectory and opened him to new opportunities.
Contrary to what many may have thought, being on Big Brother wasn’t the sole reason he got the role as he had to audition with thousands of others.
“One night, I went to the club with my friends; the day before, we’d all gotten the text message for an audition. I got back home. I was squatting with my friend, Chinedu, in Surulere, and the next morning I was like, ‘o boy, I wan go that audition o.’ We were all drunk from the club, and he said, ‘dey go jo I no dey go’. I went and came back, and I was like, ‘I get am o’. He was shocked,” he said in an interview with NETng.
Gideon got on Tinsel in 2007 and made an impact on fans, admirers and colleagues with the role for ten years. In that time, he honed his skills and attended the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York to master the art of method acting.
He soon became widely regarded as one of Nigeria’s sterling actors, whose talent meets hard work and preparation.
Making a mark in the world of make-believe, Gideon has taken on some unique roles, playing everything from lover boy to ‘Agebero’ in comedies, thrillers, dramas, and crime series.
He has also featured in several big projects like ‘Relentless,’ ‘When Love Happens,’ ‘A Place in the Stars,’ ‘Gbomo Gbomo Express,’ ‘Anniversary,’ ‘Before 30,’ ‘Movement Japa,’ ‘Palava,’ ‘The Trade,’ ‘The Wife,’ and ‘93 Days.’
“Relentlessness picked me up. It was also an avenue for me to break away from the character that I usually portray on television and become someone else-at least for a change. So to say that the movie showed the other side of me is not in doubt,” he said of how he broke into the major market.
In 2016, Gideon received an AMVCA nomination for his portrayal of Dr. Morris Ibeawuchi in ‘93 days,’ received another AMVCA ‘Best Actor in A Comedy’ nomination in 2022 for his role as ‘Benny Ramsey’ in Loving Rona.
After growing up in Ajegunle, the actor returns to the slums to take on the role of ‘Tequila’ in the newly premiered TV series, ‘Slum King.’
In this character, Gideon returns to his origin and has the chance to show off his method acting all over again. Tequila is a focused, committed, gritty, cunning, ruthless, and greedy character who lacks empathy and desires what others have.
