Mercy Eke, popularly referred to as just Mercy or Mercy Lambo rose to what seemed to be the pinnacle of her fame after she emerged as the winner of the Big Brother Naija (BBNaija) Season 4.
The Pepper Dem edition of the widely watched reality show, BBNaija, was punctuated with its fair share of drama.
Mercy, who won the show and the first woman to do so had her fair share of them during the competition. In many instances, the drama hinged on her. Despite this (or maybe because of it), Mercy emerged the winner of the BBNaija Season 4 making history along the way.
However, for many past participants, after the show, they have to deal with the fact that their fame might slip away. Many of them quietly go back to their lives as it was before the show, and manage to pop up infrequently on our social media feed.
Only a few really stay relevant following the conclusion of a season, with varying degree of success. Those that stay relevant do so because they are doing something that keeps them in the spotlight, usually within the entertainment sector, for example, acting and singing are the most common ones. However, there are a few exceptions such as Bam Bam who is running what seems like a successful beauty business.
In the case of Mercy, she has somehow managed to stay relevant so far, appearing every week on internet top trends although she has no discernible profession that would account for it. However, Mercy says she’s a businesswoman.
Her relevance is helped in part by her continued beef with fellow former housemate, Tacha, with who she had several contentious moments in the house, which spilt over outside. However, there is much more to this beautiful woman than just the surface view and that is the subject of our article, Mercy Eke biography. We hope you enjoying reading it.
Read on to find out some important facts about Mercy.
10 quick facts you don’t know about Mercy Eke, Big Brother Naija season 4 Pepper Dem winner
- Mercy won the BBNaija grand finale with 41.77% of the votes cast beating four other finalists including Mike (19.94%), Frodd (16.46%), Omoshola (11.58%) and Seyi (0.25%).
- Mercy Eke and the previous BBNaija contestant, Nina, attended the same University – Imo State University.
- Before contesting in the Pepper Dem edition of Big Brother Naija, Mercy appeared in a DMW music video (Man Must Chop, by Ichaba featuring Davido) as a video vixen.
- Mercy was a businesswoman before she turned 22 years old.
- She was graduated from the university by age 21 years old.
- Mercy is the first woman to win the BBNaija show.
- Her nickname Lambo is the shortened form of Lamborghini, Mercy Eke is also called Queen of Highlights.
- She currently has the most endorsements among all contestants at the Pepper Dem edition.
- Mercy was dumped by ex-Super Eagles international, Emenike.
- Mercy Eke is also a good singer and rapper.
Mercy Eke Biography: Early life of Mercy Eke
Mercy Eke was born on 29th September 1993 to Igbo parents from Imo State. She grew up and spent most of her youth in Imo State. She had her secondary school education at Egbu Girls Secondary School, at the state’s capital, Owerri. After completing her secondary school education, she studied Psychology at the Imo State University.
She was graduated from Imo State University in 2014 when she was just 21 and soon after began a career as a video vixen.
Mercy Eke Biography: Mercy Eke before Big Brother Naija Pepper Dem (Season 4)
Prior to appearing on the scene of the show, where she immediately caught viewers’ attention like dry leaves in contact with fire, Mercy was already in the show business, albeit not as a performer. She seemed to have achieved some modicum of success appearing as a video vixen in music videos.
Most noteworthy was her appearance in the music video for the song Man Must Chop by DMW’s Ichaba featuring Davido. The track made rounds and further added to her popularity while she was in the house.
Mercy also tried her hand in a business although details are not given as to the nature of these, although she admits that “popularity is very important for my business,” according to her profile on the African Magic DSTV website. It’s therefore conceivable that Mercy Eke sought participation in the Big Brother Naija as a means to gain popularity. She auditioned for and was accepted as a contestant in the Big Brother Naija Season 4: Pepper Dem, which aired from 30th June to 6th October 2019.
You may also like: Natacha Akide (Symply Tacha) Biography: Early life, Instagram fame, BBNaija, Controversies, and more
Mercy Eke Biography: Mercy Eke’s relationship
Mercy is thought to be currently dating a fellow ex-housemate, Ike. However, she mentioned having been in a relationship with ex-Super Eagle’s footballer Emmanuel Emenike. Mercy made the reveal to another fellow housemate Elozonam. She said that the ex-Nigerian international footballer had dumped her for Iheoma Nnadi, a former winner of the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria pageant.
Mercy claimed she found out about this on Instagram. according to the BBN winner, that was one of the reasons she was resolute on becoming a celebrity.
Meanwhile, Emenike and Iheoma Nnadi are now married and have a child together, a baby girl.
Mercy Eke Biography: Mercy Eke (Lambo) at the BBNaijaPepper Dem (Season 4)
At the 4th edition of the popular Nigerian reality show, Mercy announced herself to the world on the very first day. On the night of 30th June 2019, she came on one of the biggest entertainment stages in Nigeria and literally threw the crowd.
She was dressed to slay and slay she did. Armed with nothing but her glorious body she told a tale of beauty and enchantment. Knowing quite well the power her body possessed, she did not try to keep it under wraps. It was not long (in fact, within an hour) that she started having fans.
Social media savvy users quickly coined and gave her the nickname ‘Lamborghini’ or ‘Lambo’ for short because of her pronounced bum. And all through the show, Mercy ensured that she kept serving her fans with all they wanted. Week in week out, she kept giving everyone a thing or two to talk about. From her revealing dresses to her romance with Ike (a fellow housemate), to her weekend lively partying, and her drama with Tacha.
Mercy was described as the total package of what the Pepper Dem theme stood for by both fans and neutrals. On the national stage, with millions of attention trailing her every move, Mercy never slowed. These fans were the ones that ensured that Mercy eventually won the reality tv show as their votes for her kept her in the show to the very end and at the finale of the show, gave her a whopping 41.77% of total votes cast. The rest is history as the story goes.
It would be, however, incomplete to talk about Mercy’s time in the BBNaija without describing her rivalry with Tacha, whose full name is Anita Natacha Akide.
Mercy Vs Tacha in the Big Brother Naija House
They say some friendships last a lifetime, some rivalries can last likewise as long or even longer. If, while in the house, Mercy was not popular that you didn’t know of her, now, even if you live under a rock, chances are higher that you must have come across someone or a group of people talking about Mercy and Tacha.
Even months after the end of the Pepper Dem edition that brought them together, they still manage to surface regularly on our social media feeds. Some competition improves you while some do not allow you to have a moment’s rest. But the beef between these two women began in the house and is yet to end, more than two months after the conclusion of the event where they met each other.
It looked like both women knew they were one another’s main competitor from the early stages. And this must have contributed to the reason they were always at each other’s throats for the most part of the show.
Yet Mercy maintains there was no animosity between the two, they were just not friends with each of them doing her own thing. In a sit down with the show presenter, Ebuka Obi-Uchendu, during her interview just after she won the show, Mercy claimed to have admired Tacha, asserting, she even told Tacha so. But that wasn’t always obvious during the show. For instance, Mercy had championed the agenda of Tacha having body odour. A slur that became a major part of insults used when they quarrelled back in the house. It even extended to their fans using it as well, as Ebuka also told Mercy in that st down.
Tacha’s Disqualification
The rivalry between the two came to a head on the morning of Friday, 27th September 2019. Mercy and Tacha had one of the biggest confrontations in the show’s history. And even after some hours, both women did not show any sign of backing down from the fight.
The damage was done mostly with words but Tacha went farther by shoving Mercy and pulling her by her hair. Fans of the show waited anxiously as Big Brother, Biggie, prepared a verdict for the fighters. By the night of that same Friday, Biggie announced the judgment.
Tacha was disqualified from the show because she had allowed the confrontation to get physical, something frowned upon by the organisers of the show. However, for Mercy, she had to walk a thin line. She got two strikes for her role in provoking the fight and not walking away when things got heated.
A third strike would mean her disqualification as well. She had to walk as if on ice for the rest of the show. A feat that was easy to accomplish with Tacha no longer around.
It was one of the biggest moments of the show. Many refer to it as the decider of the winner of the show. Some fans threatened to boycott the season as they did not like the verdict. And the rest of their fans just continued the fight on social media on behalf of the two heavyweights.
Mercy Eke Biography: Mercy and Ike
Mercy and Ike developed a romantic relationship in the Big Brother Naija house and it continues to survive outside it. Speaking on her relationship with Ike whose full name is Ikechukwu Onyema, she said it was not scripted. Many viewers had accused her of fighting with him to get ratings. Mercy, however, debunked the rumours. She stated that all the fights were on real issues. According to Mercy, may no have been privy to the cause of their quarrels and that can explain the reason some people might think that she and Ike were playing to the camera.
She also described Ike as her ideal man, that is: hard.
During the final weeks of the show, Mercy had purchased immunity using coins borrowed from Ike. He revealed that they had agreed initially on this after he was evicted from the show.
After Ike’s eviction, Mercy broke down in tears. She cried uncontrollably after he left the house on Sunday, 29th September 2019.
Weeks after the show ended, Mercy and Ike covered the front page with a raunchy photo. It was a replica of Travis Scott and Kylie’s pose for GQ magazine.
Mercy and Ike on the cover of Media Room Hub magazine. This photo drew them into controversies on social media outlets with veteran actress Joke Silva questioning why Mercy had to appear half-clothed while Ike was fully covered.
Read also: Fashion Friday: Ebuka, Tacha, Mercy, Inidima Okojie serve eye-popping looks on Instagram this week
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