Adetutu Alabi, the Nigerian model with tribal marks who seeked Rihanna’s attention and got it has been featured on BBC.
Recall, Adetutu kicked off a social media campaign weeks ago with the aim to model for Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty brand after being rejected by people most times.
It came through for her and Rihanna followed back on social media and now she hits a great feat as she features on BBC.
“My name is Adetutu, A single mum, face model with tribal marks, Oh, and Rihanna followed me on Instagram, people were telling me ‘Rihanna follows you as well’ I said no, show me, prove it’, I’ve always been a fan of Rihanna, I did a photoshoot I just posted it on my social media handles, Nigerians and other countries took it up until she followed me, well I was very happy.” Adetutu told BBC.
Watch her interesting interview with BBC below;
Here’s what the model with Tribal Marks told Punch in an interview after she started trending.
She said;
“I started modelling last year after I came out from my shell or hiding due to my tribal marks. The bullying started in my primary and secondary school days. Due to this, I learnt a skill instead of going to university.
“I was supposed to study law but I decided not to take the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination at all because I was scared of being bullied in the university. I believed that if I attended university, I might end up killing myself.
“Later, I had to ask my parents why they gave me these tribal marks and they told me it was because of our culture and to showcase my beauty.
“I didn’t feature in any of my primary school pictures because of my tribal marks and even though I had friends, I was always like a fifth wheel in the group. An embarrassing day for me was when a client told me to always conceal my tribal marks anytime I came to work with her. She eventually told me that she couldn’t work with me.”
“Sometimes when I walk on the road, people would drag me, only to tell me I am ugly but I always ignore them because some people defend me,” she said.
She said, “One of the reasons the father of my child absconded was because of my tribal marks. He could not be with me in public and he only made us meet at night; we dated for some months in 2008 and I got pregnant in 2009. I bore a girl for him and she will be nine years old this year.
“I felt I was the ugliest girl in the world. I got fed up with relationships because men didn’t always want to go out with me during the day; they would prefer to be with me at night. There was a guy I dated for two years and that was the condition of the relationship, so I had to endure.
“My mum died when I was four years old, so I grew up with a single dad. When I got pregnant, I had to run away from home to a foundation that accommodated me.”
“My goal is to model for her which I hope to achieve one day. I posted the picture and my friends reposted and retweeted it and the campaign began; that was it. I was very excited when she followed me back.”
