Anita Hogan Speaks Out About Nude Photos, Married Life And The Strong Woman She Has Become

Actress Anita Hogan is happily married to hubby Ted, a Dutch, she revealed in a recent interview to Nonye Ben-Nwankwo Entertainment Reporter for Punch that she's had to learn the Dutch inorder for her to blend properly to her husband's culture and has since taken the integration exam. She lives in Holland and now speaks Dutch fluently. Anita Hogan holds a  Bachelor’s Degree in Theatre Arts and a Master’s Degree in International Law and Diplomacy. Anita finds a lot of inspiration in her father who she says has encouraged her to become the woman she's become now.

Excerpt from the interview

There is nothing unique about marrying a foreigner. He is just like every other man. It is not that I have always dated a foreigner. I had dated Nigerian men and other Africans. Men will always be men, no matter the colour of their skin, origin or physical features. If a man needs attention, you will give him the attention. A man’s needs are the same everywhere. Now, my home is Holland. I have to be very partial. That is where I want my children to grow up. Education in Holland is free and it is

Continue after the jump
standard. There are no separate schools for the rich or the poor. I bring my children home often. I want them to know their African background.

Why my marriage has survived

I am not going to compare my marriage with that of my colleagues whose marriages broke up. Nobody prays to have a broken marriage. No woman wishes to get married and watch it break up after some years. I don’t make fun of situations that I don’t even understand. In my own case, it is just God that has sustained my marriage. I might sound old fashioned, but it is just God that has done it for me. He knows everybody. In every challenging situation, He will always tell you what to do. I read all books about marriage, but it doesn’t work that way. You have to go into a marriage with an open mind and then make the best situation out of anything you see in it.

The nude picture scandal

The scandal happened some years back. Life is all about challenges. I learnt that one does not have to run away from anything that is thrown at him. If you run, the challenge will still be there. On the night that the pictures were published, four popular actors came to my house with a car and said I should pack my things and go to Ghana. They said I should stay there until the crisis died down. But I told them I wasn’t going to run. I didn’t do anything wrong, so why should I run? I didn’t kill anybody. I am not a criminal. Many politicians are stealing our money and making a mess of our country, yet they come out with bold faces. So why should I run? Somebody offended me and you want me to run? The actors were shocked with what I was saying. I told them I wasn’t going to run and that all I needed was their prayers. I don’t think I know where that courage came from, but I think my father’s spirit was with me. My father told me he loved me. I am tough. I had to practice what I preached. A lot of people thought that crisis would break my toughness. You can bring me down, but you can’t break me. You are not my creator. My life is in the hands of God. It was just God that gave me the strength.

How my family and friends reacted to the scandal

Many parents would have come up with a holier-than-thou attitude. But mine kept telling me how much they loved me. They stood by me. It was one of the things that kept me going. Some people said I married the man because of the scandal. Only time will tell. Immediately I became an actress, I knew I had forfeited my privacy. Time will tell if my marriage will be successful. I am only enjoying what I have in my hands. I am enjoying my family.

Sober reflection

I am human. Of course, sometimes I think of that scandal and I become very sad. It has become part of my personal history now. There is no way anybody will mention Anita Hogan and that scandal will not be remembered. But it depends on the angle you look at it. My children will hear it. Even my grandchildren will hear it and say their grandma is a ‘hot’ mama. What if I hadn’t married the same guy? We were just two people fooling around in our privacy. Should other people have told us how to sit down in our home? It depends on the angle you look at the scandal. That is why I want to write my book. Many people are psychologically and emotionally harassed. My own case was harassment from the pit of hell. Some people need encouragement. They are not as tough as I am. I want my book to touch people who are being harassed. No matter how much you have been pushed, you can get your life back.

Hogan and her Dutch husband Ted have two children – a two-year-old boy born back in January 201 and a girl birthed at a private clinic at her home town in Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State in September 2011.

Hogan and Ted tied the knot in 2006, the same year her controversial nude pictures were made public