Veteran actress , Idowu Phillips , aka Iya Rainbow , has remained unmarried after the death of her husband 35 years ago . The actress remarked that she was no longer interested in being joined in matrimony with anyone.
She said , “ Over my dead body would I get married again . My husband closed ( my heart ) with a padlock and he went away with the key . I don ’ t trust the men of these days . There was one that said he wanted to marry me but he ran away after he saw all my kids . I have forgotten how to want a man . With five kids to cater for , I had no thoughts of that . In those days , I could go to four different locations in a day , to tell you how hard I was working to make money to take care of my children . ”
Recalling how her late husband died , she said , “ I can never forget the day my husband died in 1984 . I felt the world was going to end on that day. He was my alpha and omega . I used to be a nurse but he was the one that made me to become an actress . As a matter of fact , during his burial , I told people to put all our children with him in the grave that I didn ’ t want them again . The shock was just too much for me to bear . Imagine one becoming a widow at the age of 42 . ”
Despite being a nurse , Iya Rainbow expressed frustration that she was unable to save her former husband from the cold hands of death . She said , “I took him to several hospitals such as the General Hospital in Lagos . I was a staff member of the hospital then and immediately I took him there, he was attended to . To be fair , the doctors tried their best but God had the final say . When a person reaches his or her bus stop, he or she has to come down . He eventually died at the University College Hospital , Ibadan . ”
The veteran actress also recalled that many people promised to help the family immediately after the demise of her husband but majority of them did not fulfil their promises . “ There were a lot of promises but after a short while , many of them didn ’ t check up on us again . He was buried in Awe , Oyo State , and many people practically turned their backs on us after the ceremony , ” she said .
On how she was able to sustain her family after she left the make- believe world for the pulpit, Iya Rainbow said , “I have had a better life since I left active acting . I have done a lot of great things now that I couldn ’ t do when I was a full - time actress . ”
Speaking on how she got to be a part of the trending Airtel commercial , Phillips said , “ It was the work of God . I was at home when I was called for the advert . I am sure God considered all that I had been through and He gave me a reason to smile.
“ I had a wonderful experience shooting the commercial. The white people on the production team made me laugh the most because whenever they asked me to say anything in English , I often got it wrong . When I was supposed to say ‘ selfie time ’ , I pronounced it in a funny way with a Yoruba accent , but the white man liked it and said we should leave it that way . He then said , ‘ Grandma , I like you ’ . We were lodged in a hotel that felt like paradise . ”
The actress also stated that she had never been in short supply of roles but had been mindful of which to accept . “ I have been getting a lot of scripts. As a matter of fact , I just got back from a location where I was with the likes of Desmond Elliot . I also work as a traditional master of ceremonies. I have different streams of income to sustain me and my family.
“ But when it comes to acting , I am careful of the types of roles I accept because my church members would get to watch the movies . As a matter of fact , that was why some producers stopped inviting me for movies in the first place because there are certain roles I would not act , such as playing a witch, ” she said.
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