I Almost Lost My First TV Commercial For Being Dark-skinned – Ireti Doyle

Nollywood actress, Ireti Doyle, says she almost lost her first television commercial two decades ago because she was the “wrong skin colour”.

The 50-year-old Tinsel actress made the revelation in an Instagram post on Thursday.

For an up and coming actor back then, she describes the opportunity as a major deal because of the visibility and paycheck.

Those were the days of “Delta Soap girls” when almost all the models used in commercials were light-skinned

Hear her: “I nearly lost that gig for being the wrong skin colour. I didn’t match the client rep’s “ideal”.

“Thankfully, the director, Mr. Wale Fanu wasn’t a pushover. He told the chap to let him do his thing or take him off the project.”

Twenty years later, “Melanin Poppin” is the vogue “and the dark-skinned girl is having her day in the sun.”

A theatre art graduate of the University of Jos, Ireti produced and presented her own fashion and lifestyle TV show titled Oge with Iretiola for 10 years.

She also organised fashion shows and mentored many models.