Regina Daniels Biography: Marriage, acting, controversies | Everything you need to know about the Nollywood actress

Regina Nneamaka Daniels, most popularly known as Regina Daniels is a Nigerian actress, film producer, model and philanthropist. 

She entered Nollywood (the Nigerian movie industry) as a child actress in 2007 when she was supposedly seven years old, although more likely nine years. We will discuss more on that in the Controversy section below. Her mother, Rita Daniels, also works in the industry. While the actress is relatively successful and known in the industry, her popularity skyrocketed after news surfaced early this year that she married billionaire Ned Nwoko, a businessman and politician from Delta State. Her acting career seems to have been put on hold since then although she has taken up other endeavours.

10 quick and interesting facts about Regina Daniels

Regina Daniels background, age, family & education

Regina Daniels age

There seems to be some confusion about Regina Daniels’ age and the actress has so far opted not to set the record straight.  However, current evidence suggests that the actress was born on 10 October 1998, which means she’s 21 years presently. We discussed more about Regina Daniels’ age in the Controversy section below.

Regina Daniels family

The actress is the fifth of six children. She has three brothers (Samuel Daniels, Lawrence Daniels and Emmanuel Daniels) and two sisters (Ifeoma Daniels and Destiny Daniels). Her mother, Rita Daniels, is also an actress, filmmaker, politician, entrepreneur and currently chairs the Delta State chapter of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN).

Her father is not publicly known. However in May this year, just after her traditional marriage to Ned Nwoioko, a Lagos based lawyer, Barrister Jude Ojeogwu, claimed on social media that he is Regina Daniels’ father. The lawyer has since deleted the post. Neither Regina Daniels nor anyone in her camp publicly reacted to the story.

Regina Daniels education

The movie star grew up in Asaba, Delta State in the South-south geopolitical zone of Nigeria where she had her primary and secondary school education. She attended Hollywood International School, Umuagu in Asaba, Delta State. She is currently a student of Igbinedion University, Okada in Edo State where she studies Mass Communication.

Regina Daniels career

Her first movie was Marriage of Sorrow, in which she featured at an alleged age of seven. She broke into the limelight in 2010 after she starred in the Nollywood blockbuster Miracle Child alongside Nollywood heavyweights like Ini Edo, Chika Ike and Mercy Johnson. She has since gone ahead to become one of the most featured faces on the big screens of Nollywood. As of 2014, she had already been featured in more than 100 films.

Some of the movies she has starred in so far include Miracle Child, Dumebi in School, The Mother Confessor, A Prayerful Woman Has Powers, The Girl with A Strange Blindness, to mention just a few. You will find a more comprehensive list of films at the end of the article.

In addition to acting, Regina Daniels also has producer credits to her belts.  As a movie producer, she has produced some of her own films including Jericho and Twins Apart.

Regina Daniels is also a photo and fashion model and she has modelled for multiple brands and has many endorsement deals. She has also appeared in several TV commercials, fashion magazines and on billboards. Her most recent endorsement deal is her contract with House of Lunettes, a popular eyewear brand. The deal was signed in May 2019.

On 22 February 2020, Regina Daniels launched a lifestyle magazine called Regina. The launch was held in Abuja and was attended by many Nigerian celebrities especially from Nollywood, the Nigerian film industry.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B8s7U1xjP6V

Aside from her work as an actress, producer, entrepreneur and model, Regina Daniels also had a stint as a political coordinator. In January 2019, she was appointed the Youth Campaign Coordinator for Atiku Abubakar, the People’s Democratic (PDP)’s presidential candidate in the 2019 elections. That in itself is not surprising as her husband is a politician as well.

Regina Daniels marriage

Regina Daniels is married to Prince Ned Nwoko, a 59-year-old Nigerian billionaire, politician, businessman, and legal expert. She is his fifth wife. The marriage was reportedly contracted in April but they had their traditional wedding in Aniocha local government area in Delta State on 26 May 2019. Prior to the knowledge of the relationship becoming public, speculations had been ongoing on social media after the actress started flaunting a luxurious lifestyle on social media. She also revealed that she bought a house for her mother.

Naturally, a lot of fans did not believe that the wealth was from her acting jobs as the level of luxury was way too much to be accounted for by her pay: flashy cars, pieces of jewellery, private jet, Rolex watches, designer apparels, you name it. Then the rumours started that she was in a relationship with an older man before it was confirmed by outside sources that the older man was Senator Ned Nwoko. All these while, Regina Daniels was silent about the relationship and didn’t address it until much later.

Once it was confirmed that the actress was actually married to a rich older man, the criticism and censure started including from the man who claimed to be her father, Barrister Jude Ojeogwu, who said that his consent to the marriage was neither sought nor given.

For a while, apart from a casual mention on her YouTube channel in June 2019, the Nollywood diva did not respond to the uproar surrounding her marriage on social media. She eventually confirmed her union with the 59-year-old billionaire when she shared their official portraits as husband and wife and professed her undying love for him on her social media channels in August. It is worth noting that most of the criticisms surrounding the marriage were based on the almost 40 years’ gap between Ned Nwoko and Regina Daniels’ ages.

Later, in October, during an interview conducted by Daddy Freeze, the Nollywood diva finally spoke out concerning that issue.

“I don’t think I could have married someone of my age because I am quite stubborn; very stubborn; my head is not down but with my husband, that is not the case because I respect him a lot,” she said in response to why she married someone that much older than her.

Prince Ned Nwoko, her husband, was also quoted to have said during the interview, “Some people thought I met her (Regina) through her mother. We met, fell in love and got married within three weeks.”

When she was asked about how she felt regarding the public uproar that trailed her marriage, Regina responded;

“The only thing I was worried about when he proposed was how I was going to tell my family and not what the public will say or think. I have learned a lot from him. I call him ‘baby’. I used to cook but my husband has stopped me from entering the kitchen because we have cooks and domestic staff.”

From indications, Regina Daniels seems to be very happy in her marriage.

Regina Daniels boyfriend before marriage to Prince Ned

Prior to Regina’s marriage to her husband  59-year-old Ned Nwoko, it was rumoured that she was in a romantic relationship with one Somadina Adinm, a 20-year- old award-winning Nollywood actor who also entered the movie industry as a child actor. Given Regina Daniels’ assertion that she couldn’t have married someone of her own age group, it’s not very surprising that the relationship did not last. Nevertheless, the two seem to still be in contact as Regina Daniels revealed during a question and answer session she hosted on YouTube in June 2019. A fan had asked who was the last person she texted, the actress laughed and replied that it was Somadina.

Regina Daniels and Ned Nwoko welcome a child together

In June 2020, Ned Nwoko and his youngest wife, Regina Daniels, welcomed a baby boy. On 10th July 2020, the couple named their baby Munir Neji Ned Nwoko. They held a naming ceremony at Nwoko’s Abuja mansion and estate.

The executives of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), led by Emeka Rollas, paid a courtesy visit to the new mum, Regina Daniels and named her baby “Nollywood baby of the year”. We are not certain that the ‘award’ really means anything.

Is Ned Nwoko picking a seventh wife after Regina Daniels?

In October 2020, there were rumours that Nigerian billionaire, politician, businessman, and legal expert, Prince Ned Nwoko was engaged to be married to a seventh wife. Never mind that no one knows how many wives the polygamist has in reality. However, rumour has it that Nwoko who had just made Regina Daniels his reportedly sixth wife in May 2019 was said to be already warming up for another one.

The rumours surprisingly stemmed from Regina Daniels’ Instagram posts. The actress had shared photos and videos of a lady named Sara, who uses the Instagram handle @Sar8al. In one of the photos, Sara showed off an engagement ring and it was captioned ‘Wifey’.

Additionally, Linda Ikeji blog reported that Sara posted photos of herself using the same cars that Regina Daniels uses and videos of her in Ned Nwoko’s house. Sara’s posts were later deleted. “Insiders have also alleged that she will be going through the traditional marriage rites just like Regina Daniels, as Ned Nwoko allegedly ‘believes in culture,” the blog post alleged.

However, after days of speculations and rumours, Regina Daniels came out to refute the claim that Ned Nwoko was picking a seventh wife. “The news about Sara being my husband’s wife is completely false. She is my friend who came visiting!” the actress said.

Thus, according to Regina Daniels, her billionaire husband is not picking a new wife at this time. Throughout the ‘seventh wife’ debacle, Prince Ned Nwoko did not say anything. This is characteristic of the billionaire, he rarely makes public statements.

Regina Daniels controversies

Regina Daniels age controversy

There has been a lot of debates and confusion regarding Regina Daniels age, which the actress has never directly addressed. This has left many people who are interested in the subject bewildered as to her real age. Anything from 16 to 35 years has been suggested as her age but we know those two numbers cannot be. Her mother is quoted by the Punch Newspaper to have said that the actress turned 20 during her last birthday in October 2019. If that were the case, then Regina Daniels would have started acting at the age of eight and not seven.

On the other, in January 2019, Regina Daniels showed off her permanent voters’ registration card (PVC) on social media and inadvertently revealed what seemed to be her real date of birth, 10th October 1998 as shown in the image below.

Also, a quick search on the INEC’s voters registration portal pulls out information that shows her date of birth to be 10th 1998. The portal returns “Not found” for 10 October 1999 and 10 October 2000, suggesting that the 10th October 1998 data belongs to Regina Daniels.

The above strongly suggests that Regina Daniels’ real age is 21 as of November 2019. That also means that she started acting at the age of nine and not seven as had been suggested. This also means that Regina Daniels’ mother, Rita Daniels, was not correct in stating that Regina Daniels clocked 20 years during her last birthday in October 2019 unless the mother was speaking in a general sense but we don’t know for sure if that were her intent.

Regina Daniels  scam controversy

In 2017, Regina Daniels was allegedly involved in a scandal that had something to do with scamming an aspiring actress. In a Facebook post by one Amanda Chisom, the victim claimed to have sent intimate pictures to Regina and was directed by her to a movie producer for training. After the meeting, Regina was reported to have been angry with the aspiring actress for not offering her body to the producer. The teen star denied every allegation two days later; claiming that an impostor had been using her name to dupe aspiring actresses. She was later exonerated on the following day when the impostor got arrested by the police.

Regina Daniels marriage controversy

Her marriage to the 59-year-old also caused some ripples between Regina Daniels’ mum and her alleged father’s family. Barrister Jude Ojeogwu, who claimed to be Regina’s father, surfaced on social media to say that whatever was happening between her daughter and Prince Ned Nwoko was not to his knowledge.

He said Regina’s mother was treading a dangerous path and he hoped she would retrace her steps.

In his words:

“Regina Daniel Ojeogwu is my biological daughter. Whatever is ongoing is not to my knowledge and without my consent. The fact speaks for itself looking at the picture. Her mother Rita Daniels is threading on a dangerous path and I hope she will retrace her steps.”

“Even the initiation ceremony into Otu Odu appears completely strange to Regina Daniel Ojeogwu. Regina is from Ogwashi Uku and not from Olor as being rumoured. All the opportunities for Mr Ned Nwoko to discuss with me proved abortive not realising that we once lived in the same house in Awoyokun Street, Onikpan, Lagos.”

“The implication of all this is that she impregnated herself. The name Regina was my late mother’s name. I have tried to exercise restraint but Regina’s mother kept pushing me to the wall. I am alive and not dead…”

Around that same period, Regina Daniels posted on social media: “Every D--k and Harry claiming to be my father that is if I have one. Yo! I know who my father is.”

The lawyer has not been heard from again since that initial allegation and it is not known whether there was some truth or not in his claims.

Regina Daniels Biography: criticisms

After news that child-comedienne Emmanuella had built a house for her mother broke, Regina Daniels had gone on Facebook to commend and congratulate her. She wrote:

“Wow. Little girl comedian Emmanuella builds a very big mansion for her mother at this little age. May God bless her in ways she cannot imagine. Check out the photos of the house. I am so happy seeing this.”

But internet trolls took the opportunity to take swipes and hurl insults at the actress. Most of the negative comments under her Facebook post mentioned that she had married an older man just to become rich.

They also claimed that all she had came from her billionaire husband, Ned Nwoko. Thus, they urged her to steer clear of Emmanuella and that she was in no position to congratulate a girl who toiled and sweated for her money.

Related: Emmanuella Biography: The talented Mark Angel child comedian everyone loves

Regina Daniels philanthropic activities

One of Regina’s ways of giving back to society is through her charity organisation, Regina Daniels Foundation, an organisation aimed at caring for the underprivileged and physically challenged with special focus on the youth. The organisation goes all out to care for the needy annually basis, particularly on Children’s Day.

Awards and recognitions

Regina Daniels has won some awards including the award for the Best Child Actress at the Africa Movie Academy Awards for her role in Miracle Child and, the Most Promising Actress at the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards.

Regina Daniels has also been nominated for the following awards:

• City People Movie Award for Most Promising Actress of the Year (English) 2016 – 2017 City
• City People Movie Award for Best Upcoming Actress of the Year (English) 2017
• People Movie Award for Best Supporting Actress of the Year (English) 2016

Social media fans

Regina Daniels can now be considered as one of the biggest social media influencers in Africa as She currently has 6.2m fans on Instagram and 1.6m fans on her Facebook page. Regina Daniels also has a YouTube channel with over 6o,000 subscribers and over 3m views.

Regina Daniels net worth

Her exact net worth has not yet been pinpointed. Although, as of 2018, it was published in a House of Maliq magazine interview piece that she earns N600,000 per movie. Some soft publications quote her net worth to be about$350,000 but none of them explains how they arrived at the figure. This was also before her marriage. And being the wife of a billionaire, there has been a significant change in her lifestyle since she got married. Regular trips on private jets, luxury automobiles including a Lexus RX 330, Ferrari and a Mercedes-Benz GL450 SUV have become part of the stories about her in the news. The fact is that Regina Daniels’ net worth is not publicly known. That information currently resides with her bank or asset manager.

Final words…

Nollywood has many stars who entered the industry as child actors but Regina Daniels is, no doubt, one of the biggest on that list at the moment. Other Nollywood stars that started as child actors include the likes of Chukwudi Okoro, Sharon Ezeamaka, Azeez Ijaduade, Somadina Adinma (Regina’s ex-boyfriend), William Uchemba, Samuel Olasehinde, Olumide Owuru, Kabirat Kafidipe and Opemipo Bamigbopa.

Regina Daniels also seems well adjusted and very matured as can be seen from the few public statements she made. She also seems very happy with her marriage and life. She’s also kind of funny with a peculiar sense of humour as can be seen from the video of the Youtube link above. It is easy to see why she is one of the most popular Nollywood actresses. And above all, she’s happy and in love. We wish her the best in her endeavours.

Bonus information

Selected list of Regina Daniels filmography

1. Miracle Child
2. Dumebi in School
3. Python Girl
4. The Bat-Man
5. The Jericho
6. Plantain Girl
7. Jaja The Great
8. Tears of ojiugo
9. Wipe your sorrows
10. Royal covenant
11. Traditional War (Part 1)
12. Stronger Than The gods
13. The King and The Python
14. Tears of the Vengeance
15. Hanging Coffin
16. The Ghost Baby Born With Super Powers
17. The Mother Confessor
18. A Prayerful Woman Has Powers
19. Dancing Maid From The Village
20. Beautiful Trouble
21. The Guardian Princess of Ajara Kingdom
22. Phyno Ezege (REGINA DANIELS AND THE FAKE PHYNO)
23. The Day my Life Changed
24. Stronger than the Gods
25. Life Turned Me to a Bad Girl
26. The City Girl
27. A Humble Maiden
28. The Girl with A Strange Blindness
29. The Blind Girl and the Prince
30. Mad Girl, I desire to Marry
31. Enemies of the Princess
32. Beauty of the Palace
33. The poor Innocent Schoolgirl
34. Prayer Defeats The Devil
35. The Village Child
36. The Brave Child and the Beast
37. The Little Child Defender
38. The Jungle Girl
39. The Prince and The Jungle Girl
40. Helpless Palace Maiden
41. The Jealous Beauty
42. Evil Priestess
43. Ogadi and the Village Witches
44. The Skeleton Girl
45. Anger of a Queen
46. Quest for a new King
47. The Strange Child
48. The Virgin Child
49. Ocha The Fire Bender
50. The Forest Girl
51. My Sick Wife
52. Cat Man
53. The Lion King
54. Weeping Princess
55. Secretly Pregnant
56. Awelle the Village Lamb
57. My Ceremonial Wife
58. Wounded for Love
59. My Blind Daughter
60. The Village Tigress
61. Somma the Fisher Girl
62. Separated at Birth
63. Ogbanje Maids
64. The Land of Blood
65. Plantain Girl
66. Mechanic Girl
67. Daughter of Fire
68. The Fathers Cross
69. The Goddess of Fire
70. Blind Warrior
71. Queen of Wealth
72. My Powerful Daughter
73. Daughter of the Gods
74. Spider Girl
75. The Evil Girl and Her Mother
76. Daughter of Vulture
77. The Child Ghost
78. The Strange Girl and the Powerful hunter,
79. Regina the Avenger
80. Dragon Mother
81. The Mysterious Child
82. Iyi-Ogba the Evil Goddess
83. The Brave Child