Lady Diane Oputa, wife of the latest Marriage counselor “Charly Boy” in this enlightening interview with Social media titan Babalola Osogbiye reveals how she and hubby have been able to pull through 38years without being a subject of
media.
Oh by the way, did you know Charly Boy has been three times and that this is his 4th marriage?!
Words are not enough to give details of the interview, read
more below:
On how they have managed to last longer than a lot of other celebrities:
I have been able to manage very well because of the man I got married
to. Charles is a strong family man, a decent gentleman who puts his
family first before anything else. He has been a wonderful husband, a
good father and a wonderful son to his parents. Charles is the husband
every woman dreams about. He is sensitive, he listens, the first to
apologize if he is wrong. I love his never say die spirit. I think we
were ordained by God to marry each other because we both want the same
thing, we are both committed to our marriage. Like they say, it takes
two to tango. However our marriage has not been a bed of roses, we have
our issues and challenges, but because we are best of friends, because
we are loyal to our commitment we always resolve whatever issue that
comes up, to move forward. We don’t have a perfect marriage, no such
thing in this world, but we have a friendship that has endured through
time. It has been a long journey and we have had ups and downs within
the 38 years that we have been together. But we are happy together. A
lot of couples haven’t got that far-we are really privileged. I thank
God.
On the challenges of their marriage:
In the beginning it was the women, my gosh! Women everywhere. Charles
is a charmer. He had 7kids from his away matches and the women he
married that didn’t work out, before we got married. His stubbornness
was sometimes obnoxious. During his hay days as a performer, his acts
were sometimes so overboard that I will refuse doing his background
vocals and we always argued/quarreled about that. But as the years
rolled by I found ways of calming him down, and curing my high blood
pressure. I later found out that the women were more for his hypes and
pons, like the charly’s virgins. One thing I knew from the beginning was
that my husband always wanted to be a family man, after all he grew up
seeing both parents together for sixty something years before papa
passed on. Much later the women thing totally fizzled out. In the
beginning I wasn’t too sure how to deal with all his children from
deferent women, but trust charles he knows how to put his family
together. That’s how I overnight became a mother of 9 children plus my
last three. The only thing that he still does that pisses me off till tomorrow is
his silence, when he is angry about something. He will lock himself in
his room and may not talk to me for days. I can’t deal with that because
we talk all the time our communication is on point. He always says he
doesn’t want to say the wrong things when he is angry. Otherwise,
Charles is the best thing to happen to me and I thank God for that.
On why celebrity marriages don’t last:
Celebs marriages are not different from any other marriage, however,
the bottom-line is that both parties have to know what they want from
the start. For most young people it’s about the packaging and never the
content. Marriage is about two people who want to stay married no matter
the weather, if one person wants it more than the other it won’t work.
The ingredients for a fairly decent marriage, will be mutual respect,
good communication between the couples and good friendship. Thank God
that today what we have most, is old fashion friendship. My husband is
not your typical Nigerian person, above all he listens and he is very
sensitive to how I am feeling as my friend and it’s all mutual.
On if her trust for him was ever shaken:
Yes, in the beginning the first maybe 8yrs, too many drama that I was
dealing with. It wasn’t easy at all but I also matured along the way. I
began to see things for what they really are not for what it looked
like. Experience has thought me how to separate the boy Charly from my
man Charles. Charly is an incorrigible botton pusher and that will never
stop, but my man Charles is also an incorrigible introvert and that’s
who I married. A few times he has reported himself to me and he is not
good at lying. Being fulfilled in marriage is guaranteed when your
spouse is supportive, understanding and sensitive to your feelings and
most importantly, when he is always looking for creative ways to keep
the fire burning.
On CharlyBoy being a marriage counselor now:
Yea, that’s Charly boy for you, who else would give their personal
number on air. Do you know how many calls he receives per minute? He
however has been doing all of that for a very long time, it’s only
recently he went ballistic with that. I guess for him, he wants to
always feel useful, always wanting to teach, to share, to give hope to
the hopeless, that’s charlyboys story, aside the fact that he likes to
confuse people with his antics. Am I surprised? no. I won’t be surprised
if tomorrow he opens a church.
Charles has always been spiritual ever since I met him, very deep.
That’s why for people who meet him one on one, they are so charmed
because he is nothing like charlyboy puts out. And it takes intelligence
and discipline to know the boundaries. He has counselled and inspired
millions of nigerian youths, to be themselves, be focused and never to
let anyone kill their dream. I love him for the many lives he has
touched and still touching, for all who worked with him, they too can
testify he added value to their lives. That’s who he is.
On what keeps their marriage alive:
Hummm!!!! Charly can be an unrepentant romantic when he wants to be.
Though he hasn’t pulled any stunt to sweep me off my feet recently, but
he can be full of surprises. The last time, he asked me to escort him to
the airport to receive a certain business partner from the carribean.
Before I knew what was happening, I was on my way to the Bahamas, sweden
and Dubai, with nothing but my purse. He knows I love romance and from
time to time he figures ways to sweep me off my feet. That’s why we try
to keep it as youthful and as fresh as we can. We really work at it.
It’s not easy but we are determined. Charles woos me with his outlandish
and elaborate stunts, and I like it. I always look forward to my
birthdays. We are like two buddies.
On CharlyBoy’s new found religiousness:
Charles has always been spiritual, has always given himself to service.
He has always been an inspiration to millions of frustrated nigerian
youths. His life style has made thousands chase their own dreams and
never gave up on theirselves. Yes, people where not too sure what to
make of him, because he kept confusing people who couldn’t see the
humour or the sense in how he was putting out. He has always been about
how he can add value to his environment and the people he meets. He may
not have been a regular church goer but was a Christian by his actions. I
guess the difference now is that the press seems to be reporting more
of his works and the value he promotes than all the stunts he pulls to
keep the people guessing. But yes he is more calmer now, more at peace
now and more spiritual. Like they say, there is a time and season for
everything. He is been there done that and seen that, what else can be
new for him so I guess is Jesus time from here on and that’s all the
better for him. He is doing what God wants him to do.