Former BBNaija housemates Khafi Kareem and Gedoni Ekpata are celebrating six years of marriage, following a relationship that began during the 2019 Pepper Dem season.
Six years after taking their relationship from the Big Brother Naija house to the altar, Khafi Kareem and Gedoni Ekpata are marking another milestone in their marriage.
The couple, who met during the 2019 edition of the reality show, made their union official at the Ikoyi Marriage Registry in Lagos on September 24, 2020. Their relationship had continued beyond the television show, leading to an engagement in December 2019 before they quietly got married the following year.
Their decision to marry came during the COVID-19 pandemic, when restrictions on gatherings meant that the occasion could not take the form of the larger celebration they might otherwise have had. Khafi later explained that they nevertheless chose to go ahead with the ceremony because they did not want to postpone beginning their life together.
“Getting married during a pandemic was a choice we decided to make,” she told BellaNaija. “If this year taught us anything, it was to take nothing for granted and each day is a gift.”
For Khafi, the decision was also shaped by the loss of her brother, which she said had made the couple more conscious of how uncertain life could be.
“My brother’s death also made us realise that life truly isn’t promised, so we didn’t want to wait,” she said, adding that they had always known they wanted to spend their lives together.
The wedding represented the next stage of a relationship that had attracted attention while the pair were still contestants on Big Brother Naija: Pepper Dem. Their connection continued after the programme ended, with Gedoni proposing during a trip to Cape Verde several months later.
Looking back at their relationship in 2021, Gedoni recalled that the two had entered the BBNaija arena on July 7, 2019, to break a tie, without knowing what the meeting would eventually lead to.
He described their time together as two years of “fun, friendship, arguments, agreements and disagreements” as well as support and encouragement, before telling Khafi that he continued to choose her every day.
Khafi responded in the comments with her own declaration, writing, “I love you in ways words cannot express, and I too pick you every day,” before wishing for their love to last “forever and ever by God’s grace and power.”
That exchange reflected the way the couple have marked important moments over the years, with their anniversary messages often centred on gratitude, faith and their life as a family.
On their first wedding anniversary, Khafi shared a photograph of Gedoni and described him as the person who remained in her corner through difficult moments.
“In the midst of the chaos, I have that one person that is in my corner at all times, loving me, rooting for me, reprimanding me,” she wrote.
She also celebrated his role as a father, writing, “You are an amazing Man, Husband, father, and I pray our little boy grows up to be like you and more.”
The couple had welcomed their first child by then, adding parenthood to a relationship that had started in the public eye. Their family later grew further, with the couple welcoming another child.
For their third anniversary, Khafi again chose prayer as the way to mark the occasion. Rather than simply celebrating the date, she used the moment to pray for her husband’s work, family and responsibilities.
“I thank you, Lord, that in your perfect timing you let our lives meet and our paths cross,” she wrote, while praying that Gedoni would remain focused on his role within their family.
Her message also reflected the changes that had taken place since their days as reality television contestants. What viewers first encountered as a developing relationship between two housemates had become a marriage in which they were raising children and navigating family life away from the cameras.
Their story has remained one of the better-known relationships to emerge from Big Brother Naija, particularly because their relationship continued after the programme and eventually resulted in marriage. The couple’s journey has also unfolded alongside the changing nature of their individual lives outside the reality show.
For Khafi and Gedoni, September 24 now carries a meaning that is separate from the programme where their relationship first began. It is the date they chose to make their commitment official, at a time when many couples were postponing major celebrations because of the pandemic.
Six years later, the couple have another anniversary to mark, with the relationship that began between two contestants in the Pepper Dem house having since become a marriage and a family.