There is no way that writing about Nancy Isime would not feel personal to me. It feels like she is someone I know from my childhood or, not that far back, maybe from high school. It was in “Tinsel” I first saw her as a single-mother, ex-abused wife, and Brenda‘s friend-turned-nemesis Serena, and Nancy Isime has remained a figure I will always look at with the eye of the kindred whether on Hip TV, in movies, at events, and elsewhere.
Here is everything you need to know about the model, TV personality, red carpet goddess, and Jasmine from the new movie “Jasmine”.
Nancy Isime – age and background
Nancy Isime was born in Edo State in December 1991. She lost her mother while growing up. This is an unimaginable loss and Meg Otanwa, for instance, has mentioned that she still misses her own mom years after she passed away. Nancy grew up in Lagos (where she had her primary and secondary education) and Benin City in the care of her disciplinarian father.
Isime is of the Esan, an Edoid ethnic group in central Edo State. Some notable Esan figures include Anthony Eneharo, the chap who, in 1953, moved the motion for Nigerian independence, the late Stella Obasanjo, and Pastor Chris Oyakhilome. And others.
Nancy Isime is an alumnus of the University of Lagos where she bagged a diploma in Social Work and the University of Port Harcourt where she did a six-month course.
Nancy Isime is 30 years old.
Nancy Isime – career
Nancy Isime’s father wanted his daughter to be a lawyer. It wasn’t her dream career (she didn’t have any) and she didn’t say no. But life does what it does and she is now what she is. It started in 2009 when she won the Miss Valentine International beauty pageant. This was followed closely by her first runners-up position at the Miss Telecoms Nigeria pageant. From here, she hit it in the modeling world. While modeling, Ms. Isime worked for popular brands such as House of Marie, Lanre Da Silva, Ade Bakare, and Zizi Cardow.
KC Ejelonu bio
Then she became a presenter beginning with the show “The Squeeze”, an Ultima Studios production (the same guys who run “Who Wants to be a Millionaire Nigeria”). And one other show with Ultima Studios. One day, a Ghanaian director saw her and decided that she would make a great actress and he told her that. And she tried her hands in acting and the rest is not history (might be but for now), the moments we have of her in cinemas, on TV series and shows.
The first acting credit is in the series “Echoes” from 2011. Nancy Isime is no Funke Akindele or Tinsel goddess Ireti Doyle; her movies are countable. She was in AY’s “A Trip to Jamaica”, in the Yoruba demons-inspired “Merry Men” with Ramsey Nouah, Jim Iyke, and co., in “Hire a Woman”, in “Disguised”, in the sequel of “Living in Bondage”, in “Jasmine”, etc.
If there are actors that can be tagged made-for-cinema, Nancy Isime is one of them. “I like to take scripts that challenge me,” she said adding that she particularly likes roles that she had never played before.
In 2020, she played the title character of “Kambili: The Whole 30 Yards” which was directed by Kayode Kasum and had Mawuli Gavor, Jide Kene Achufusi, Sharon Ooja, and Venita of BBNaija in the cast.
In 2020, Nancy launched her Nancy Isime Show. The show which airs Fridays on Africa Magic Urban at 9:30 PM, Saturdays on AIT at 9:00 PM, and every Sunday on HipTV at 8:30 PM returned for its second season in February 2021. Nancy Isime has remained a co-host of the Headies Award since 2019.
See also Linda Ejiofor
She went on to comment that “No matter how bizarre or outrageous a storyline seems, it is the true experience of many people.” But we have never seen her in cheap Nollywood movies. Nancy is not oblivious of the chain of respect involves in the entertainment world and has identified Genevieve Nnaji, Nse Ikpe-Etim, Mercy Johnson, and Rita Dominic as her role models from within the shores of Nigeria.
One thing that can be said to be her selling points beyond her obvious beauty and figure is her high sex of fashion. On low-cut hair, fair and confident, nearly everything she wears agrees with her. And no she isn’t shy of flaunting any parts, admiting she has “no problems baring my cleavage and my legs”; a red carpet darling, this one.
More on career and relationship
Nancy Isime is also a presenter. She has a show on Hip TV “Trending” every weekday at 9 am. In October 2019, her presenting credentials peaked when she co-hosted the Headies. It was a badly managed show that coincided with Wizkid’s UK tour and Isime tried her best to keep the show running.
She is not a comedian like Basketmouth or Bovi, nor a veteran like Frank Edoho or Ik Isakioduwa. There was a limit to how she far she could carry a dead horse on her youthful back.
Nancy Isime is said to be in a serious relationship with a man that she wouldn’t name and Linda Ikeji doesn’t know about. But we might know the person, he may be right before us and we just didn’t know he has been the one all this while – there is no need to guess, the matter is overtaken by gossip and speculation.
And this will not be the first time. Simi once told us she was dating someone in the wraps. We suspected Falz but it turns out it was Adekunle Gold whom she married. Damilola Adegbeti was dating her then Tinsel-co-star and we didn’t know. She married him.
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