Contrary to his public posture, sources have reaffirmed that celebrated presenter of must watch television programme, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Mr Frank Edoho has indeed abandoned his family. A known "Snob" according to his former neighbours in the Northern Foreshore Estate
And not only this, fresh information has it that he has also stopped providing for his broadcaster wife, Kathrine and their three children.
He is said to have adopted this stance for close to a year now.
Information has revealed that Edoho had carefully masked the development from the public based on the after effect it might have on his job.
The promoters of his claim to fame, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire had warned him about any negativity about his person rubbing off their show.
He is widely seen as the face of the show all over town. It was their insistence that made him recalled his wife in the initial celebrated bust up that the couple later denied. There were talks of replacing him as presenter
But popular television show host, Frank Edoho, may not be in the mood to dish out jokes right now. Well, he seems to be very angry with news hunters at the moment. In fact he was said to have asked that journalists should leave his wife, Katherine alone.
we learnt that this emanated from rumours that circulated on the internet recently that the couple, who have three kids, have separated. However, a few days ago, Frank said the separation tale was not true. He insisted that his marriage is intact and that his marriage and private affairs are nobody’s business. Hear him: “There is nothing like that. I do not know where the rumour is coming from. What you need to know about me is just my career. I’m not going to tell anybody about my family life. Nobody has any right to ask me about my family.”
There has been a speculation that the couple was having problems with their marriage and the TV host has moved out of their matrimonial home.
Reiterating his earlier position the through a telephone conversation with news magazine, a furious Frank said:
9jabook is certain Frank Edoho moved out of his northern foreshore chevron drive lekki 3m per annum Luxury 4 bed Duplex late last year as from all indications from his neighbours whom he did not even tell . One morning moving trucks arrived and by evening he was gone ! His house help or house maid, relation or whoever she was had been seen that day usually with the children but the kids all of a sudden were gone too. Edoho's wife according to neighbours and sources rarely came out of the house.
Their estate Northern foresore which has a private beachfront had put edoho in previous electricity problems as his generator was having problems in an estate where light could be off for more than a week.The estate populated by chevron and mobil staff and other highbrow personalities is notorious for having multiple 24kva generators by residents who show off their ability to run their generators for weeks without PHCN ..Edoho who had only one seemed to have been fed up with this and one day suddenly moved out .
How did you become being the face of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire"?
Actually, I was called by a friend to come for an audition for "who wants to be a millionaire"? And since I had been watching the South African Version of the show which was years back, I knew the format of the show. So I said if this show is coming to Nigeria, great! But I just didn’t think that I would be the one presenting the show. I felt it would need a veteran broadcasters. So I felt the chance I had in presenting that show was like a snowball’s chance in hell, but I said hey!, let me just try. I missed the first audition, but as God would have it, the owner of the show said he still believes that there was that person out there, so they organized another audition.
What are the things you were asked to do during the screening?
Well, you go into the place and they give you a script. I didn’t know you were supposed to memorise it from outside, so I went there with the script and I was asked not to read from it and I should just present it. I started making things up but I wasn’t too impressed with my performance, but I said hey what the heck! I did it. What they were looking for was someone amiable, someone who’s natural. I’m not saying other people weren’t natural, but they were looking for a particular kind of person and I fitted that description, so I don’t see it as a special thing.
What schools did you attend and what did you specialize in?
I attended St. Louis Primary, then I went to St. Patrick’s College, Calabar, and then the University of Calabar to study Animal Science. While I was in school I made a foray into broadcasting, because I had a flair for it and that was in 1993. And since then, I’ve been into broadcasting. I was doing it side by side in school. I was doing a Radio Programme called Calabar Music Room on an A.M. Station, the A.M. Station for Cross River Radio. Then I told them that I wanted to start a programme called Block Buster on the FM Station of Cross River Radio once a week, and after that I started a television programme. There was one breakfast television show by the name, Swell Time Entertainment. We didn’t have any breakfast show as at that time in Calabar, so it came up on Saturdays and Sundays for three hours. That was what really showed me that on Radio, you work very hard on a daily basis and it could take like 3 years for someone to recognize you, but on TV, all you need to do is look nice, say the right things, make the right gestures and you are the toast of the whole vicinity, though I prefer Radio to TV actually, because Radio is my first love. I get to play great music and I get to be myself, but on TV, I have a character and I make sure that character is as natural as possible.
What were you doing before "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire"?
When I came to Lagos, I started working with DBN Television. I was at DBN Television and for that one year, I was a Cameraman, Editor, a Newscaster, News Producer, Presenter. After that, I went to Radio Nigeria, Metro FM, where I met grant people, especially the then Director General, Dr. Eddie Iroh, who brought innovation into that place and he really helped me in terms of training, diction, elocution and speech, how to project, how to attack a script and even news reading. After that, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire came along and the rest is history.
Apart from Who Went To Be A Millionaire, what else do you do?
I am an MC, I compere events all over the place.
You must really be a millionaire?
If you have one million now, it makes you a millionaire, not so? But I’m telling you, one million is not much money because if you want to buy a car, maybe it’s worth N800,000 and you have N200,000 left. But I do lots of compere, voice over, everything I do is related to the entertainment world and the voice overs improve my voice quality.
In which commercials did you do voice over?
I’m all over MTN, Intercontinental Bank, I don’t do for Telecomms Companies for obvious reasons, they are too numerous.
How were you able to clinch the deal the second time with MTN?
When it comes to that aspect, I’m not allowed to really talk about it, but I’m going to give you what I can. The former dispensation was this, we had sponsorship slots, and these slots were taken by different companies. The owner of the show. Mr. Femi Ayeni, in order to break even had put in so much work, and money and nobody wanted to plunge in the sort of money we wanted. So he said okay, let’s UBA, then Telecoms, that’s Vmobile, then we had Cowbell. And you know Cowbell cannot be there and you would have Peak, so that was what happened. Then MTN came along and said they wanted all the slots. I really commend MTN. That is what a company should do, they should say look, we want this programme, I don’t care what it takes. Abroad, they have what they call Nielsen ratings, which show companies what they should offer for TV Shows. They have a way of rating TV Shows because their system of broadcast allows one to know how many people are watching a programme. But here, it’s just based on assumption, but for a show like ours, you can only know that everybody watches the show, because of the fact that people see me and recognize me instantly. And I tell you, my face is not on billboards and they still know me, it means they are watching. And it is a mutual benefit thing; the show benefits and the company does. The then Vmobile was one of the sponsors, while MTN sponsors the whole show, so we are partnering with MTN to make sure things happen.
Where are you from?
I’m from Akwa Ibom and Cross River States, so you can call me an-Akwa-Cross indigene.
So how did you meet your wife?
I met my wife in Calabar in 1989. Of course I didn’t know she would be my wife. Then we met at DBN TV, though I had just spent two weeks. She was in a relationship that didn’t work out and I had just proposed to a girl that didn’t want to marry me, and so we hit it off together. She handles AM Express. I love her very much. If you realize what my wife went through for me, no woman can suffer like that. My wife was squatting with a friend of mine who threw us out and we had nowhere to go, but she stuck by me. She would give me all her money, my wife gave me half of the money for my first car. Sometimes couples have their troubles, but what I always remember is what she went through for me. I don’t think I can marry any other woman, so I guess I’m stuck with her. Moreover, she is a good mother to my children, she is one of the nicest people I can think of, so let this be a lesson to people who think celebrities don’t have problems, just because you see them smiling all the time. Anyway, I can only say that I’m in this one forever. You know with women, no one can predict your next reactions, so no problem.
So how do you people manage the home front, considering the nature of your jobs?
We are both Broadcasters. My wife leaves home early for AM Express. Mine is easier as sometimes, I don’t leave the house till 10, then I go meet my wife in the office to have a chat, then I go. Sometimes, I get home very late. I’m using my image to meet people, get contacts and stuffs, like that. I get MC jobs and stuff like that, so I try to mingle with my colleagues, it’s not easy but we have to balance it out.
Do you ever have time to relax?
My idea of relaxing is not doing any job but staying at home to watch Tv and playing video games. Also, I love listening to music while driving; it relaxes me. Also, I love hanging out at Barcelos, which is my favorite hangout. I’m just a regular guy, not some stuck up celebrity hanging his nose in the air.
What are your challenges as a Compere and Presenter?
Everytime before I present a show, I pray. I don’t use scripts nor teleprompters, everything I say comes from my head, and all I do I just beg God to help me and he does. And as a quiz master, you must know all pronunciations, quotations, then as a compere, I have to update my jokes and try creating a joke out of a situation and also try to make it original.
What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?
I can’t tell you the craziest thing I’ve ever done in my University days, unless you want my marriage to crash, but I can tell you one, though I’ve not said it to anyone. On my wedding day, my wife and I weren’t talking, and when people walked up to us, we would both act the happy couple and as soon as they leave, we would continue. My mother found out and scolded the hell out of me. And the funny thing about it is that I can’t remember what actually caused the friction.
How do you feel being the popular Frank Edoho?
I don’t have the right to do anything I want. Sometime ago on the Island, one area boy tapped on my door and started raining abuses on me just because I wouldn’t give him money. If it was the Frank Edoho of that time. I would have raised him 5ft in the air. As a matter of fact, when the guy was talking to me, I wanted to talk back at him but one family just drove past waving at me and I had to wave back smiling.
How long will the show last?
The show is just going on. That of Vmobile lasted for two years, but this time, I don’t know, we are trying to make it great. The Executive Producer, Mr. Femi Ayeni is trying to improve on the quality of the show in terms of equipment, location etc.
Who are your role models?
In terms of presentations Ruth Benamesia-Opia, Adesuwa Onyenokwe, my wife, whom I feel is a better presenter than I am. For men, Sunny Irabor, Uncle Femi Sowoolu. In terms of MC, Basorge Tariah Jnr. Is great, he actually taught me. I admire Basket Mouth, while A.Y. is just a stupid boy in terms of comedy. The MD of Access Bank Aigboje Aig Imokhuede and his Assistant, Herbert Wigwe, those two have achieved, they have no qualms about it. They are not going about it as if they have done anything, they wish to achieve more.