Heralded by weeks of touring on Instagram Live, and creating capsules of conversations with celebrities like Vector, Ubi Franklin and Adekunle Gold on well-being, Chude Jideonwo’s mental health talk show With Chude premiered Saturday night on TVC Entertainment, and had actress Toyin Abraham as its first guest.
With Chude couldn’t have aired at a better time. With the world crumbling from the devastating effects of the novel coronavirus and everyone suspended in a limbo of uncertainties, our collective wellness has never been in a more vulnerable state. But things are changing, meaning people are getting more comfortable in sharing their mental health crisis and how they resolved them.
Cue in Toyin Abraham. The actress’s career has taken a liftoff in the last 24 months, her pivot from Yoruba movies to mainstream Nollywood made more distinct and dubbed as the ”box office queen,” for how easy her movies finds its audience and rakes in good figures. She bagged the award for Best Actress at this year’s AMVCA, for her role in Elevator Baby, and her hit comedy franchise Alakada is back for a fourth volume, but its April release stalled by the coronavirus pandemic.
On With Chude, Abraham opens up to Jideonwo about living in fear and dealing with depression in the span of five years. ”When I’m not working in front of the camera, when I get back to my hotel or the house, I just get sad.” she says. Held in the grips of this melancholic sadness for a long time, so much so that she craved to be in sphere of work to escape that atmosphere, Abraham looked to her manager for support.
“Whenever I want to think of something positive, I just become sad”
WOW!! @toyin_abraham1 really went through it and we are glad she’s sharing her experience #withChude pic.twitter.com/emfJBAhZFW
— Y! Online (@YNaija) April 19, 2020
Even though he was married, Abraham revealed that she would call him in the dead of night because she need someone to speak to. He helped with her a therapist, and the first step in getting out of that mental sinking place was her having the willingness. The actress also had to replace her circle of friends, and read books. ”I have never doubted my talent,” Abraham responds when Jideonwo asks about starting out in the industry.
Jideonwo, always in state of constant praise and admiration for the actress, had seen Abraham in the 2017 movie Esohe, playing a non-comedic role and knew right then that she had the range. A remarkable aspect of the show that is worth mentioning is its outdoor location – an open green space hemmed in by nature. Commercial breaks aren’t lengthy, and Jideonwo’s other well-being vertical The Daily Vulnerable was airdropped quite seamlessly.
At a point, Abraham chips in to say there’s still more to come from her in the industry. After her failed marriage, Abraham found love again, and also rose from the ashes of her mental health crisis. This debut of With Chude is a good primer of what’s to come.
You can listen to an exclusive, extended version of the interview on podcast, premiering Wednesday by 10am and catch the show next week on TVC Entertainment on cable: GOtv (channel 27), StarTimes (channel 121) and Play TV (channel 801)
When Bernard Dayo isn’t writing about pop culture, he’s watching horror movies and reading comics and trying to pretend his addiction to Netflix isn’t a serious condition.
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