Famous actress, Rita Dominic, has disclosed the rationale behind her deliberate decision to wait before she finally got married.
The 48-year-old thespian tied the nuptial knot with her heartthrob, Fidelis Anosike in April 2022.
Speaking in a recent interview with Ghana’s Joy 99.7 FM, Dominic explained that she didn’t marry early because she wanted to be sure she was marrying for “the right reasons” and not because of societal pressure.
She said she was under pressure for years to get married but she turned deaf ears to it until it was convenient for her.
She said: “Why did I wait so long before getting married? I wanted to be sure that I was marrying for the right reasons and not for the reasons that stemmed from societal pressure.
“Before I got married, the pressure was there for years but I just turned deaf ears. Because like I always say, ‘At the end of the day I will marry the man of my dreams and not the man that anybody dreams for me. If anything goes wrong tomorrow, I would be the one left to pack up the pieces and not the society. So, I will do it when I want to do it at the right time.’ And I believe I did it at the right time with the right person.”
Asked whether it took so long because she couldn’t find her ideal man on time, Dominic said: “I met quite a number of people but maybe we just didn’t happen. It just didn’t work out. And I don’t believe in forcing things. If it’s not working, if we are not compatible, there’s no point forcing things then you grow into it and tomorrow you’re out of it.”
She clarified that being a celebrity wasn’t the reason for her delayed marriage.
Also, speaking at the Women of Valour International Women’s Day event in Accra, Ghana, Dominic opened up about the challenges she faced as a famous woman unmarried. She spoke on dealing with the pressures and negativity regarding her choice to wait until she found the person she “cared enough to marry.”
“My story about finding love and ultimately marrying a man I love at an age that most Africans consider old was vigorously discussed, to my amusement, on social media pages,” she said.
She highlighted how she was pressured and consistently questioned by people who reminded her that she was getting older.
“On one hand, it was heartening to witness the overwhelming support, love and excitement from women across Africa and it was beautiful. And even as we celebrated, glimpses of resistance emerged from certain quarters, notably from self-appointed gatekeepers of African culture,” she said.
The actress emphasised that no one deserves to be judged based on outdated social norms.
“Why let yourself be ruled by decisions made by people who made them to suit their own selfish interests at the time, who are long gone? For years I was hounded with ‘When are you going to marry?’ ‘You are old,’ and I would brush it off,” she said.
