Tonto Dikeh is a true representative of her craft; controversial, beautiful and a drama queen. She is known to all and sundry, not by her acting, for most part, but for the way she has remained consistent with stirring controversies her way.
Make no mistake, Tonto Dikeh is undoubtedly a talented actress and one of the best Nigeria has ever produced. However, some of Nollywood’s finest seem to be plagued by controversy and hit the news with a new scandal more often than others. She seems to take the larger chunk of the cake when it comes to trending for all the wrong reasons.
The talented, confident and beautiful actress and singer has been involved in more controversies than any other damsel in Nollywood. This light-skinned actress who has graced the screen in several movies has been in the limelight for controversial issues almost as much as for her acting career.
Tonto Dikeh Biography
Tonto Wigo Charity Dikeh (born 9 June 1985; also A.K.A Tontolet, King Tonto, Poko, and Mama King) is a popular Nigerian actress, singer, songwriter and humanitarian. She was born into a family of seven and is the third of five children. Her family is from Obio-Akpor, an LGA in Rivers State, and is of Ikwerre descent. At age 3, she lost her mother and was raised by her step-mother, who has two children. Tonto Dikeh studied petrochemical engineering at the Rivers State University of Science and Technology.
Career
Tonto Dikeh is known for various Nollywood movies but in particular, the movie “Dirty Secret” brought about controversies. This is because it contained numerous adult scenes which at then was quite foreign (unheard of) in the Nigerian movie industry. Critics have accused her of being untraditional and un-African, while others have said that Dikeh was merely being professional.
She later decided to try herself in music after appearing in several movies. She had however once featured in a music video by Amaco Investments where she and Patience Ozokwor mimed the song. Dikeh then made her debut with her singles ‘Hi’ and ‘Itz Ova’ featuring Snypa. Her songs were again received fairly well as many praised her efforts while the critics questioned her vocal ability. There were doubts about her decision to try music but she kept on with her music.
She was unveiled under the record label ‘DB Records LEE family’ by the pop star D’banj on 13th June 2014. She, however, announced her departure from the DB records in March 2015.
Tonto Dikeh Family, Marriage
Tonto Dikeh was married to Oladunni Olakunle Churchhill. Her traditional marriage to Churchill was in August 2015. In February 2016, Dikeh gave birth to her son Andre Omodayo Churchill, whom she nicknamed Baby X. In June 2017, Tonto Dikeh and Olakunle Churchill divorced, leading to a nasty revelation about how the couple managed to cope with themselves amidst lies. Churchill confirmed that his marriage to the actress was over amidst a seven months crisis rocking their union.
Olakunle Churchill revealed he was physically abused in the marriage and video clips surfaced and Tonto Dikeh was seen assaulting her ex-husband in their supposed living room which had been turned upside down. The couple granted individual interviews on several occasions, giving details of the problems they encountered.
Despite going their separate ways, Tonto Dikeh never stopped attacking her ex-husband. In May 2019, she revealed, in her interview with Daddy Freeze that her ex-husband was a ’40 seconds man’, a revelation which sparked outrage from several quarters.
She also claimed she caught him of ‘humping’ another woman on their wedding night.
Controversies
Nollywood actress, Tonto Dikeh, says she has learnt unique ways to handle controversies and negative reports. The Nigerian actress recently parted ways with her politician lover under controversial circumstances.
Her estranged lover, Prince Kpokpogri, alleged that she cheated on him with another man during their short-lived affair.
Ms Dikeh said the negative things people said about her used to make her sad before she discovered that she could actually build on it.
The pair have been in the news over their rumoured break-up, less than three months after their relationship became public.
In the leaked audio, Kpokpogri had alleged that a man slept in the same room with the actress, citing a chat on Dikeh’s phone.
But the film star had denied the claim, while she was also heard begging Kpokpogri not to quit their relationship.
Philanthropy
Despite being perceived as highly controversial, Tonto Dikeh has an amazing heart and reaches out to others through her foundation, ‘The Tonto Dikeh Foundation’. She was a huge lover and supporter of her ex-husband’s foundation prior to their divorce and was at the fore. She, however, birthed hers after their marriage failed and both went their separate ways.
Cosmetic Surgery
In December 2017, Tonto Dikeh made a shocking revelation that she had undergone a cosmetic surgery procedure to enhance her physique. The controversial actress made the shocking revelation in a trailer of her new reality show, ‘King Tonto’. She revealed in the promo clip exclusive to Linda Ikeji TV that:
My body has been something that I have always been extremely ashamed of.
Reportedly a boobs job at the time, the actress allegedly went ahead for another procedure to enhance her bum. In June 2019, she was criticized for the shape of her bum which many claimed looked like a ‘block’.
Tonto Dikeh Net Worth
Tonto Dikeh is a brand ambassador to a handful of top brands in Nigeria. On May 23, 2019, Tonto Dikeh signed a N100 million deal with Zikel Cosmetics setting on the map for being the first Nigerian celebrity to be paid such amount for being an ambassador of a makeup brand in Africa. She is also a brand ambassador of Sapphire scents. Tonto Dikeh has an estimated net worth of $691,562 (N250 million).
Tonto Dikeh Fun Facts
-
She is one of the most controversial celebrities in Nigeria and the most controversial actor in Nigeria
-
She prefers being referred to as ‘King Tonto Dikeh’.
-
She claims to be a born again Christian but her beliefs, practices, and opinions greatly contradicts this.
-
Her ‘best friend’ is none other than the controversial Bobrisky.
-
Tonto Dikeh is very outspoken and is considered to be troublesome on social media alongside Daddy Freeze.
-
Tonto Dike is a big fan of body arts and has a large tattoo on her back which caused controversy with people saying that it had an Illuminati element to it. She also has 57 letters tattooed on her body, 57 stars, and 570 lines and curves as well.
-
She is one of the growing lists of female Nigerian celebrities to have cosmetic surgery done.
-
The light-skinned diva has admitted to bleaching her skin but says the key is in doing it right to avoid the health implication. She gave her reason for bleaching as wanting to enhance her skin’s lightness as she likes being fair. However, many believe this was an attempt to make her more eligible for movie roles.
-
One of the most controversial movies in Nollywood, Dirty Secret, was actually based on a true story and Tonto Dike agreed to act in it after meeting the girl who inspired the writing and production of this film.
-
Tonto Dikeh has been involved in social media call outs and fights than most Nollywood actors.