What have you benefitted from being popular?
I can say I am starting to enjoy the perks now and I see them as a reward for the things I have done. But I am still on the road to stardom.
Has it always been your dream to be a model?
Hmmm… My dreams are big. They are so big that I know that something has to meet with another thing to get to the place I see myself going. Modeling is just one pathway. I have always seen myself as a model right from when I was a child.
Has it always been a rosy journey?
No, it has not been rosy. If anyone tells you their journey is rosy, just know it is the opposite. I have had a lot of disappointments that have made me doubt that I was ever good enough to be a model in the first place. I have once gone home after an event and questioned who I really was. I asked myself, “Am I really doing the right thing?” But those disappointments were a stepping stone to my destiny and to the place I was destined to God to be.
What are some of the challenges you have experienced?
I have experienced a lot of betrayals from people I never expected would do the things that were done to me. They were bitter experiences. When I think about it now, I just smile. I always tell my mentees that it is not just about getting to stardom but how one gets there. It is those experiences that build one. To become someone who people would want to listen to and reckon with in the future, it is important for one to go through these disappointments and setbacks.
Have your parents always been supportive of you being a model?
No, not at all. My dad was never ever in support of the idea. It took almost a year to convince my mum. When she eventually did, she was fully in. She supported me in total, and she has always been.
How do they feel now that you are making videos with Beyonce, Wizkid and other superstars?
When my dad saw me on screen for the first time, he called me and asked, “Vivian, what are you doing with those people?” This is because he doesn’t really know these names. He asked what I was doing on-screen dancing and performing, and I said it was me being a model. He said, “No, no, no. It is not going to work.” After like a month or two, my face became regular on TV and he started to come around. One time, he saw me on TV and told a neighbour with pride, “That is my daughter, Vivian, on TV”. He was so proud of me, and it pleased me.
My mother is a very reserved person. So, whenever she goes to her shop and people say they saw someone who looked like me on TV, she would say, “Yes, it is Vivian.” She’s not really outgoing. That is why she would always call me every day to tell me, “Vivian, be careful. Eyes are on you.”
What are some of the things you used to do before you became popular that you do not do anymore?
Before now, I did not really care about my skin. I knew I had nice skin because my mum really took care of it as a child because of how special it was. Now, I am very conscious of my skin, what I wear, and how I relate with people. I can say I am still me. I am still the same Vivian you would meet on a regular day and the one you’d meet on set. I did not let stardom change me. I feel I am still on my way to stardom.
How do you combine your Christian faith with your career?
Modesty is now a thing to be questioned in the fashion industry. People don’t really appreciate modesty anymore, and it is affecting the mentality of a lot of younger models out there. If you see up-and-coming models right now, you’d see them wearing bum shorts and tank tops, feeling comfortable. They do this because that is what they see other people doing. So, I want to be an infiltration system in the modelling industry. I am a model because I want to bring about change in how models are viewed and how they are appreciated the way it was before. Being a Christian has little or nothing to do with what I do as a model. Being a Christian is who I am, what I am, what I have come to embrace and what I want to be expressive about.
