Now and then, celebrities meet each other, fall in love, and become couple goals. Some of those couples – Adesua Etomi and Banky Wellington (The Wellingtons), Funke Akindele and JJC (The Bellos), Simi and Adekunle Gold (The Kosokos), Linda Ejiofor and Ibrahim Suleiman (The Suleimans), as well as BBNaija’s Neo and Vee (Veo), are nominated for Most Popular Couple at the NET Honours People’s Choice Awards, one of the world’s biggest audience data-based awards.
NET Honours is an annual recognition of top performers in the entertainment industry and public sector based on audience data from ID Africa’s media channels. The award is based on engagement from over 8 million internet users reached across websites, social media and related channels of Netng, Neusroom, 234Star and Orin between June 2020 and May 2021.
In the Most Popular Couple category, NET Honours rewards those lovebirds that generated the most conversations on Netng, Neusroom, 234Star, Orin and related platforms within the year in review.
Adesua Etomi first met Banky Wellington in 2015, but it was not until a year later that they officially became an item. They quickly took things to the next level and married in a lavish Dubai ceremony in November 2017. In February 2021, they welcomed their first child together. The couple has featured in four movies together; The Wedding Party, The Wedding Party 2, Up North and Sugar Rush.
Nigerian actress Funke Akindele and rapper JJC Skillz married in a secret wedding ceremony on August 23, 2016. In 2017, the couple collaborated to produce Industreet, a television series that focuses on the music industry. In December 2018, they welcomed their first children together, a set of twins. JJC Skillz currently directs the comedy series Jenifa’s Diary, with Funke Akindele as the lead actor.
Simi and Adekunle Gold met for the first time in 2013 at Bogobiri Lounge, Ikoyi. They officially began to date in 2014 but kept it under wraps as they focused on their respective music careers. Simi did the mixing and mastering for Adekunle Gold’s debut album Gold, and they collaborated on the track “Take Me Back” (off Simi’s 2017 album Simisola). They have since collaborated on four other songs: “No Forget”, “Promise”, “By You”, and “Bite The Dust.” They got married at a low-key beach wedding in January 2019. In May 2020, they welcomed their first child, Adejare.
Linda Ejiofor and Ibrahim Suleiman, both award-winning Nollywood actors, met in 2016 on the hit series Tinsel, and before long, they started dating. They got married in a well-attended ceremony in November 2018, and in July 2020, two became three as their first child was born. They keep a relatively low profile and tease each other regularly on social media.
Neo and Vee met each other in 2020 at Big Brother Naija: Lockdown and immediately hit it off. Their partnership during the show was as strategic as it was romantic, and together they played the game to lethal effect, lasting for several weeks in the house. After the show, they have managed to stick together, with Vee trying to balance her music career with brand ambassadorial duties and Neo focusing on fashion.
Data for NET Honours is sourced from a vast database of over eight million users who engaged with Netng, Neusroom, Orin and 234Star platforms via the websites, social media accounts, and related platforms within a 12-month calendar period.
To find out who wins this category, join us on thenet.ng/honours at 5 pm on Sunday, June 20, 2021.
See the complete list of nominees here.