Nse Ikpe-Etim Biography: Early life, career, sickness, personal life and net worth

Nse Ikpe-Etim is a popular Nigerian actress who has been starring in Nollywood films since the early 2000s. In this biography about Nse Ikpe-Etim, you would learn about her early life, acting career, among other details.

Also, we will reveal how the actress became popular and also talk about a sickness that forced her to remove her womb. In addition, you will see other details about her personal life and net worth in this article.

However, before we go into the full biography, you can see a summary of important facts about Nse Ikpe-Etim in the section below. Likely, all the important questions you have about her will be answered here.

10 important facts about Nse Ikpe-Etim

1. Nse Ikpe-Etim was born on 21st October 1974 in Lagos State and she will be 46 years old on her birthday in 2020.
2. She is from Akwa Ibom state but she grew up in four different Nigerian States namely; Zaria, Kaduna, Plateau, Kwara and Lagos State.
3. The talented actress has five younger siblings.
4. Etim graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Arts from the University of Calabar (UNICAL).
5. She acted in a Nigerian soap opera titled Inheritance in 1999 and it aired on NTA.
6. Nse Ikpe-Etim had been an Associate Producer and worked on the 2003 Nollywood film, Emotional Crack and she also acted in Venom of Justice 2.
7. In 2008, she acted in the film, Reloaded and it got her nominated at the 5th Africa Movie Academy Awards in the Best Actress in a leading role category.
8. She has hosted the Africa Movie Academy Awards a record three times; in 2011, 2017 and 2018.
9. The beautiful actress revealed that in 2016, she had been diagnosed with Adenomyosis which led to her removing her womb.
10. Nse Ikpe-Etim got married on Valentine’s day on 14th February 2013 to Clifford Sule, her childhood friend who is a senior lecturer at the Middlesex University in London, England.

Also read: Omoni Oboli Biography: Early life, education, career, family and net worth

Nse Ikpe-Etim Biography: Early life

The beautiful and gifted Nigerian actress, Nse Ikpe-Etim was born on 21st October 1974 in Lagos State, Nigeria. Nse Ikpe-Etim is the first child of six children as she revealed in an interview with NdaniTV. She also stated that she grew up in different cities in Nigeria, namely Zaria, Kaduna, Jos, Ilorin and Lagos.

The reason the actress moved a lot when she was younger was that her father worked with the Central Bank of Nigeria. His job required him to move a lot, thus, he moved his family along with him. From research, we found that Nse Ikpe-Etim is from Akwa Ibom State.

Nse Ikpe-Etim started schooling at Awa Nursery School in Kaduna State and then she moved on to Command Primary School (also in the same state). However, it was soon time to move after she completed her Primary school education.

She started her secondary school education at St Louis College, Jos and later attended the Federal Government College in the state. However, she would graduate secondary school from the Federal Government College, Ilorin.

On completion of her secondary school education, Nse Ikpe Etim got admission into the University of Calabar (UNICAL) to study Theater Arts where she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Arts. Despite this degree in acting, she didn’t consciously choose a career in the entertainment industry.

Nse Ikpe-Etim Biography: Early career

During an interview where she was hosted by popular OAP, Toolz, Nse Ikpe-Etim said that she had “accidentally” gone into acting. We will talk about this soon, but it is worth mentioning that she had experience in acting before she became a popular face in Nollywood film.

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Etim’s acting experience came from her university days when she partook in stage plays as part of the Theatre Arts’ course requirements. Also, around 1999/2000 Nse Ikpe-Etim acted in a Nigerian soap opera titled Inheritance.

After this initial stint into acting, she went on to work in a radio station as she revealed during a discussion with Bella Naija’s Bola Aduwo. Thereafter, she worked in a bank and later managed a clothing store as well.

Nse Ikpe-Etim Biography: Acting career

Many people got to know of Nse Ikpe-Etim as an actress after she starred in the 2008 film titled, Reloaded. But before then, she had been an associate producer and worked on a 2003 Nollywood film titled Emotional Crack.

Also in 2003, the actress appeared in Venom of Justice 2 but the film that really brought her prominence was Reloaded.

Nse Ikpe-Etim acted in the lead role with Ramsey Nouah but the story of how she came to be on the cast of Reloaded is quite interesting. According to the actress, Emem Isong, the film’s producer was her friend and she had offered her the role. You can watch the film below:

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQp0rlgKMFs[/embedyt]

Speaking about the film, Etim said, “It was a fun script and I enjoyed reading and working on part of the dialogue. Also, the producer, Emem is a friend. She let me know I had it in me to handle the part.”

Her performance was quite notable and it earned her a nomination at the 5th Africa Movie Academy Awards in the Best Actress in a leading role category. She also won the 2010 Nigeria Entertainment Awards for the film.

It appeared that she had finally found her footing after her early sojourns in different fields. Nse Ikpe-Etim returned to the screen in 2010 with two films; Bursting Out and Inale. The next year, she again starred with Ramsey Nouah and Stephanie Okereke in Guilty Pleasures, a film that received positive reviews from critics.

Within four years from appearing in Reloaded, Nse Ikpe-Etim was already a household name and popular face in Nollywood films. In 2012, she acted in a host of films and notable among them were Phone Swap, Mr. and Mrs., Journey to Self and The Meeting.

Each of the above films was either nominated or won prestigious film awards in Nigeria and Africa as well. This is a testament to the quality that Nse Ikpe-Etim injects into films that she stars in.

Since her debut in the Nigerian film industry, she has won many prestigious acting awards like the Golden Icons Academy Awards, African Magic Viewers Choice Awards and several others. The list of awards that Nse Ikpe-Etim has been nominated for is more numerous as well.

In 2019, Visual Collaborative, a US-based festival and publishing platform that highlights the intersections of people, commerce and innovation, featured her for its Polaris issue. They also list her among the ‘Selected features’ from the Polaris catalogue.

But it has not all being rosy and smooth for the talented actress. Read about a debilitating illness that afflicted Nse Ikpe-Etim for most of her life.

Africa Movie Academy Awards host

Nse Ikpe-Etim hosted the Africa Movie Academy Awards for the first time in 2011 with Nollywood prolific actor Jim Iyke. The award was the 7th edition of the prestigious award ceremony and was held at the Gloryland Cultural Center, Bayelsa State.

In May 2017, the organisers of the Africa Movie Academy Awards announced that Nse Ikpe-Etim would host the 13th edition of the show after revealing a date change from 3rd June 2017 to 15th July 2017. She hosted the show alone (the first time this was done in the ceremony’s history).

And she put up a memorable display at the 13th Africa Movie Academy Awards held at Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos, Lagos State, Nigeria.

Again in 2018, it was announced that Nse Ikpe-Etim would be returning as the host of the 14th Africa Movie Academy Awards held at Intari Conference Arena, Kigali, Rwanda, on 20th October 2018. That was her third time hosting the prestigious show and she did so with Rwandan comedian, Arthur Nkusi.

Why Nse Ikpe-Etim removed her womb?

The beautiful actress revealed that in 2016, she had been diagnosed with Adenomyosis. This is a medical condition that can cause severe menstrual cramps, lower abdominal pressure, and bloating before menstrual periods and it may lead to heavy periods as well.

Adenomyosis causes the inner lining of the uterus to break through the muscle wall of the uterus. When she was diagnosed with the illness, the only solution was to have her womb removed. At an event in Lekki, Lagos State, in 2019, Nse Ikpe-Etim revealed this to her audience.

You can read more about this, here: Actress, Nse Ikpe Etim reveals she can’t have a child; thankful to Nollywood

Thus, while things appeared to be going without any hiccups in her life, the actress actually faced serious challenges. She says that her ordeal made her fall into depression but she had her husband to encourage her.

Nse Ikpe-Etim Biography: Personal life

The Nigerian actress, Nse Ikpe-Etim got married on Valentine’s day on 14th February 2013 to Clifford Sule. They had tied the nuptial knot at the Lagos registry before heading to Etim’s Akwa Ibom hometown to hold the traditional wedding.

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The couple also held another traditional wedding ceremony in Lagos for some of their friends and family who could not make it to the first one. Clifford Sule had been a childhood friend of Etim but he had been married and divorced before he and Etim tied the knot.

A gossip blog also claims that Sule had a son that was about 15 years old around the time he and the actress got married, from his previous marriage.

You may also like: ‘You taught me that love is more beautiful when it undergoes changes’ – Nse Ikpe Etim says as she celebrates anniversary

As we have explained in the section above, Nse Ikpe-Etim does not have a child with her husband, Clifford Sule. Whether or not they plan to adopt any s not something they’ve discussed publicly. Sule is a senior lecturer at the Middlesex University in London, England, and he resides there with his wife.

Etim is also very close to her siblings and she once disclosed that her sisters are her best friends.

Nse Ikpe-Etim Biography: Net worth

Several online sources claim that Nse Ikpe-Etim has an estimated net worth of $600,000. However, we find it hard to trust what these sources say because it appears to be speculations and not fact-based. Also, there is no mention of how they arrived at this figure.

However, the only facts we can provide about Nse Ikpe-Etim’s net worth is that she has starred in some of the most popular Nollywood films as we will reveal in a list of her films below. Likely, she makes lots of money from them.

According to a Tribune report, the actress also started a business in 2016 named Eden’s Theory. Eden’s Theory is a beauty brand that is based in the UK that sells skincare products and hair accessories.

Final thoughts…

From the biography of Nse Ikpe-Etim, there are many insights that one can learn from. For one, she mentioned how she had come into Nollywood by accident. However, she nailed her first role and became popular as a result of that.

Showing that she seized her opportunity for greatness and ensured that she made the most of it. Being talented is one thing but using every opportunity wisely defines one’s success or failure.

Also, we learnt that the actress had gone through a life-changing situation that requires her to remove her womb due to adenomyosis. It is important to note that despite the fact that it meant she couldn’t have her own biological children, her husband stuck with her.

She also showed great strength of character by keeping her head down and going on with her life and career as well. In fact, it had been over three years before she even revealed to the public the reason for childlessness.

Now, let us look at some important additional information about the talented and beautiful actress in the next section.

Additional information on Nse Ikpe-Etim

A selected list of Nse Ikpe-Etim films and TV shows

1. Inheritance (1999)
2. Emotional Crack (as Associate Producer) (2003)
3. Venom of Justice 2 (2003)
4. Reloaded (2008)
5. Bursting Out (2010)
6. Inale (2010)
7. Guilty Pleasures (2011)
8. Memories of My Heart (2011)
9. Kiss and Tell (2011)
10. Spellbound (2011)
11. Phone Swap (2012)
12. Mr. and Mrs. (2012)
13. The Meeting (2012)
14. Journey to Self (2012)
15. Black November (2012)
16. Broken (2013)
17. Blue Flames (2013)
18. Hustlers (2013)
19. Devil in the Detail (2014)
20. The Green Eyed (2014)
21. Tunnel (2014)
22. In Between (2014)
23. The Visit (2015)
24. Heaven’s Hell (2015)
25. Fifty (2015)
26. Stalker (2016)
27. A Trip to Jamaica (2016)
28. American Driver (2016)
29. Hotel Called Memory (2017)
30. Small Chops (2020)

List of Nse Ikpe-Etim awards

1. Nigeria Entertainment Awards for Best Actress Film/Short Story (2010)
2. Best of Nollywood Awards for Best Actress in a Lead role (2011)
3. Nollywood Movies Awards for Best Actress in a Supporting role (2012)
4. Best of Nollywood Awards for Best lead Actress in an English Movie (2012)
5. Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards for Best Actress in a Drama (2014)
6. Best of Nollywood Awards for Best Actress in a Leading role in an English movie (2015)