Emeka Ike recently emerged the first winner of Gulder Ultimate Search, Celebrity Showdown. In this chat with NONYE BEN-NWANKWO, he talks about life in the jungle and his alleged romance with Muma Gee.

Would you attribute your victory at the last Gulder Ultimate Search, Celebrity Showdown to luck?

Whatever comes to us can never be by luck. If you believe that anything that comes your way is by luck, you are taking away God's glory and you are giving it to an unknown feature. While we were on top of water, I was on the boat. If you noticed, I was the last man on the boat. That fear factor came to me that I had relegated myself to the background by sitting at the back. There and then, another voice came to me and said, 'The first shall be the last and the last shall be the first.' I did not just stop there. I had to know if I was the one speaking or if it was God. I told God that if He was the one speaking to me, I would make a contact with Him to tell him I heard Him. I scooped water from the river and told God that I had heard him.

Was that why you didn't give up even when it looked like the others were ahead of you in the final task?

I didn't give up. God and the Devil give us messages, but you have to choose the person you listen to. The spirit of frustration came into me and told me that the others were ahead of me, but I didn't listen. The other voice reminded me that the others hadn't found the treasure yet. I had to keep digging. It taught me a lesson. Even when you are failing, keep thinking. It is not over until it is over. I kept digging and digging. My mind told me that I was free to dig anywhere. The first port of call was Darey's point. I used my head to make some calculations and in less than five scoops, I was able to touch the treasure. My mind was in all I was doing.

You also said it was your intellect that got you the prize. Are you saying the others are not intelligent?

At every point in any human being's life, you need to be on top of your game. We could be 10 intelligent people in a room, but all of us have to radiate on different frequencies. You may not give out the right frequency when you are required to. That doesn't make you not to be intelligent. My mind was there as I said earlier. I was studying them. I don't think they were studying me. I was looking at their attempts and at the same time, I allowed the spirit in me to control me. It was God that told me to go and dig at Darey's place, and I went there, dug and found the treasure.

A lot of people felt you saw Darey as your biggest rival.

My rival was my best friend, Daddy Showkey. He is a strong man. Darey couldn't have been my rival. Showkey is stronger. I was following my mind.

Come to think of it, you once said you are not really into endorsement. How come you became a part of GUS?

Don't say I am not into endorsement. I just don't endorse. I need to endorse the right product. You don't have to think that because actors are broke, you can invite them and give each of them N3 million to endorse your product. I will not be a part of that. I feel that good things come to you in God's time. That is the way I operate. GUS was more like a quest for me. I was committed. It was not about endorsing any brand but winning a contest. That was why I went in for it.

We learnt that you were not meant to be on the list initially; you were called upon on the day of the opening and you jumped at the offer.

That is a lie. They had called me many times before then but I told them I wasn't interested. I have never liked this endorsement deal as you already know. I just didn't feel like being a part of it. But later, I came back one day and met my bags packed. I asked my wife what the problem was and she said she packed it for GUS. She encouraged me to go and be a part of the show because she believed so much in me. That was how I left.

Your relationship with Muma Gee in the jungle brought about a lot of talks and scandals…

I was comfortable with the talks and scandals the 'relationship' brought. Showbiz without scandal is not showbiz. The important thing is that it does not take you outside your focus. There was nothing physical between us.

Even the bathroom sex?

There was no kiss. There was no hug and, of course, there was no sex. All the stuff you saw was for the paparazzi and the drama. If you noticed, when the other girls got very angry, that was when Muma got very close to me. We were enjoying the drama. Sometimes you would see us whispering into one another's ears. You needed to know what we were talking about. The others would shout and say that I should be ashamed of myself; a married man going after another lady. I would whisper into Muma Gee's ear and say, 'As if we don't know what we are doing. They should go ahead and talk'. We would laugh and people would think we are intimate. We knew what we were doing, but people didn't know what we were doing.

Why did you single out Muma Gee to act with?

I think Muma singled me out. Maybe because she saw me as the right person that could play along with her, who would not think she was leading him on. Muma is mature. In all the brouhaha, she was calm. That is one mark of a mature and enterprising individual. I give her kudos for that. You don't have to sit with kids who just rant and rave. She was always composed and articulate even when the others were fighting her

Mschewwwww

EMEKA IKE, GO TO HELL MAAN,,,,,,,,,WE AFRICAN HATE U WITH PASSION,,,,,,,,,, GO TO HELL AND BE A FOOL THAT U ARE,,,,,,,,,,,I HATE YOU, U CAN'T ACT AND YOUR FACE ALWAYS LOOKS DIRTY ,,,,,,,,GAAN VEG, JY IS BAAI DOM

spikedcylinder:

Abeg all of them should go and sleep.

Gbam!

Muma Gee and Emeka Ike need to get off the headlines already.

I'm getting sick of them.

Nakele:

EMEKA IKE, GO TO HELL MAAN,,,,,,,,,WE AFRICAN HATE U WITH PASSION,,,,,,,,,, GO TO HELL AND BE A FOOL THAT U ARE,,,,,,,,,,,I HATE YOU, U CAN'T ACT AND YOUR FACE ALWAYS LOOKS DIRTY ,,,,,,,,GAAN VEG, JY IS BAAI DOM

He is not your enemy of progress. He doesn't even know you exist.

michelin89:

He is not your enemy of progress. He doesn't even know you exist.

@michellin89,,,,,,,,, jy is n gek net soos. bly maar die gek wat jy is en los my yt.

@michellin89,,,,,,,,, Jy is n gek net soos EMEKA IKE Bly maar die gek wat jy is en los my yt.

Nakele:

@michellin89,,,,,,,,, Jy is n gek net soos EMEKA IKE  Bly maar die gek wat jy is en los my yt.

Is this Balderdash?

Michellin, its clear u have never HEARD of the language called " Afrikaans",,,,,,,,,,,,, So pls watch and learn

[size=15pt]

Nakele:

EMEKA IKE, GO TO HELL MAAN,,,,,,,,,WE AFRICAN HATE U WITH PASSION,,,,,,,,,, GO TO HELL AND BE A FOOL THAT U ARE,,,,,,,,,,,I HATE YOU,  U CAN'T ACT AND YOUR FACE ALWAYS LOOKS DIRTY ,,,,,,,,GAAN VEG, JY IS BAAI DOM

silly boi,please dont use `we` cos u are d only mumu who hates emeka ike.what has he done to u?u dont need to start vexing for guys who have made it. if not, u wont make it urself.he doesnt even know dat a silly dirty boi like u exist.why dont u go kiss a live wire if his sight upset u dat much. ode [/size]