INTERVIEW: I’ve been single for past 8 years since my divorce, says Faith Morey

Imagine a young girl, brimming with ambition and a sprinkle of Port Harcourt magic, setting off for the bright lights of America. Law school might have been her initial interest, but destiny had other plans. Her journey led her to conquer international runways and captivate global audiences. Fast forward to today, Faith Morey, now a grown woman, returns to her roots not only as a seasoned model who walked the world’s grandest stages but as a force to be reckoned with. The “six-foot Amazon goddess,” as she playfully describes herself, brings her charm to the second season of ‘The Real Housewives of Lagos’, along with a deep-seated desire for philanthropy. Morey, in this interview with TheCable Lifestyle’s VICTORY ORIMEMI, discusses facing bullying on RHOLagos, rumours surrounding her personal life, and reasons for not pursuing a career in law.

TheCable Lifestyle: A lot of people got to know you through the RHOLagos but you have been in the entertainment scene for a while now. How has the journey been for you?

Faith Morey: It has been a colourful and interesting one. I started as a model, Nigerian Expo model, that was about 2009 and went to South Africa in 2009, ended up with the agency I was working with by the end of 2009 and then came back to the country. I met my husband, got pregnant, had my son, and still went back into modelling, but not runway modelling; it was more like lingerie modelling. I have always loved to be in entertainment.

It has been an interesting one because obviously, I worked in the US. I got to meet different people, I got to learn how to push forward and move forward when you hear no. I got to push forward and move forward when, you know, people have a particular beauty standard and you do not fit into that box. So yeah, of course, it is amazing. When we started modelling, it was not what our parents wanted at that time because modelling had a bad reputation. It was more like if you are a model, you are going into prostitution. But now our parents are more liberal when it comes to opening their eyes or their ideology regarding modelling. So yeah, it has been an interesting journey but I am here.

TheCable Lifestyle: What was it like growing up, and how has your background shaped your life?

Faith Morey: Growing up was amazing, I would say because I had love. I was born in Lagos, but my mom and my dad divorced at the age of seven, and we moved back to Port Harcourt. My grandma had 12 kids, so you can imagine the amount of uncles and aunties I had. She was very motherly, she allowed most of them to come with their friends to stay in the house. It was an upbringing full of love, and it was a very religious family where I was raised. I think my mom would still call me and tell me, ‘My daughter, why did you wear that? Close this, you know’. I still have that, and I was telling someone yesterday that if my grandma was around, I would never have these tattoos. I got them after she passed. Although, yes, there are certain things I do. I think the basic, fundamental family value for us is always to remember to be kind. I was brought up in a very loving home, a religious home that has given me the courage to share my story. You hear these folks that go from abject poverty or the middle class to, you know, not talking about their story because they do not want people to remember where they are coming from. I want people to know you can still look sexy, and look good, but still remember your family values.

TheCable Lifestyle: What motivated you to go into philanthropy?

Faith Morey: I thought about how to honour my grandma, and what better way to do that than to revisit the school where she taught for over 30 years. She was an amazing teacher and a mother figure to all in our community. In Diobu, people knew her as “Big Mama” because her heart was big. We started off trying to provide solar panels to Sangana Nursery and Primary School because solar panels were what brought me to Nigeria at first. But then the school was not in very good shape. The roof was falling, the renovations had been done haphazardly, and the entrance to the school did not look good. The kids in the school did not have uniforms; some of them had things like bathroom slippers. I remember going to school as a kid; you feel more comfortable and confident when you look good. So, I said solar panels can wait for now. We decided to volunteer. They were short of five teachers in the primary and nursery school. We paid for five more teachers to join for a year. We also gave scholarships to the kids from nursery three to primary five, including school uniforms and back-to-school sandals. And then we also decided to do an outreach to other schools. There is a school called Orominike Girls, which is the girls’ school in Diobu. We decided to sponsor SS2 and SS3 students about 100 and something kids.

We are working on my first public school in Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt Primary. It is also in Diobu. We started by supplying water for them and renovating the primary school wings, and the entrance of the school as well. By God’s grace, we are going to PH because they are honouring us by naming one of the entire sports houses after us. So all this is in honour of my late grandmother.

TheCable Lifestyle: You studied law, why are you not practising?

Faith Morey: I think that was one of the comments and questions that arose whenever the last episode came on, and I am sure most people did not even know I had any background in law. I am not practicing because I only had a law diploma. I intended to go into the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, which I applied to go, but that year was the year they had this substitute test you had to take, and I ended up studying real estate or architecture for like a month, and I was like, that is it. I wanted to go away, and also it was almost like going from Diobu to something similar. I wanted like a bigger region, so I got admission to study Diploma in Law at the University of Abuja. You cannot practice law with a diploma. Yes, you can decide to get more education, build on that two years, and add three more years to your college, but right now I have a degree in Business Admin and Human Resources. I am also a Certified Scrum Master and Project Manager in an IT company. A lot is going on and of course, I am a model. I own Morey Faith Collection, a designer also, and a reality star.

TheCable Lifestyle: You got married at the age of 19, why did you decide to take such a big step at that point in your life?

Faith Morey: What is one criterion when you want to get married? If you love the person, if there is mutual love and understanding between the both of you. I would not say he was my first boyfriend or my first love, but I did love him. And when he proposed, why not? You know, and it was just fortunate that he wanted to get me right away, and it happened. I got pregnant with my son a couple of months later, and we have a bundle of joy that is turning 13, by the way. So I am a lover girl. If I love someone, I am with the person.

TheCable Lifestyle: What made you join the Real Housewives of Lagos?

Faith Morey: It is an amazing platform for me to kickstart whatever project I had going on, but I did not like the way we, black women, were perceived, so I wanted to just be that change. I knew that the background I grew up in was rough, Diobu, it is a thuggish world there. Before you say anything, they are already doing stuff. But I did level up from that environment, and I wanted people to also know that you can level up. I did not like the ideology of people concluding that because you are pretty and you are tall, that you are just a pretty dumb girl. I wanted people to know that we can prove ourselves if given a chance. I wanted to also introduce the Morey Faith Collection in Lagos, Nigeria, and I think I can say thank you to Nigeria, and thank you to Africa. I am not just going to say Nigeria because I have a lot of people sending messages from the UK, Gambia, Kenya, Ghana, South Africa. I am just grateful that people got to see me and take one or two things, and I am happy because that is the reason why I joined.

TheCable Lifestyle: Do you feel like you did enough with showcasing yourself and your work on the show?

Faith Morey: I posted a video a couple of weeks ago where I spoke to an actual client that we just installed a solar panel for, and that did not make it. We also had a little segment where we talked about the Morey Faith Collection. I was supposed to go for an interview with African Magic; that did not make it either. So, I am sure every cast has a lot to say, but remember, it is only 13 episodes, and then, it is a limited amount of time that can keep people watching. I think I did the best I could.

TheCable Lifestyle: Interestingly, you mentioned scenes that did not make it to the final cut. There have been ongoing arguments among reality TV fans who believe producers edit scenes to build a narrative. Some members of the RHOLagos cast have also accused the producers of engaging in similar practices. Is this true?

Faith Morey: When I saw videos and I was reading this online, I laughed. Do you know why I laughed? Because no one had a gun to your head to tell you what to do or what to say, and AI is not what it used to be. It is what you say that ends up on the show.

Okay, so why am I not online trying to justify what I did? I feel like if someone walks up to you now and says, “Hey, I am going to give you $100 million if you shoot her”. Will you do that? You will only do that when it is inbuilt. We watch reality from Atlanta, Dubai, Orange County, Beverly Hills, it is what you put out there that people get to see. People did not get to see my private life and some of my stuff because I am still a private person even if I am in the public eye.

There are certain things I feel like I do not want to share with the world. For example, my son’s school, you know, we had a lot of conversations talking about him going through bullying too because he is from the US. He was schooling in the UK. He has a background of being an Irishman. His dad is mixed American and Irish, so the UK folks do not like Americans to start with. We did not know that when he was going there. They do not like an Irishman either. So it was interesting when I was addressing this and trying to navigate my son through how to actually stand for yourself and I was having the same situation on set.

TheCable Lifestyle: Were you really bullied on the show?

Faith Morey: Well, you can try to bully me, but I cannot be bullied. I grew up being bullied. Like, remember then in school, the tallest person is old mama. Even in the US, I had to move from one subdivision to another because I was a Black lady raising a Caucasian kid. Most of them thought I was the housekeeper or the nanny. Yes! My son, when he started growing and having curly hair, you have the white kids go, “How do you have a Black mom?” They did not understand that. Even in the modelling industry, as a Black model, it is different. So I did experience that, but like you saw on the show, you cannot bully me. You can say whatever you want, it is your opinion. So it did happen and I am sure the viewers saw that a lot of times it did.

TheCable Lifestyle: What challenges did you face balancing motherhood and filming the show?

Faith Morey: I saw some comments my team sent to me where folks were like, “Why is Faith always crying?” You know, obviously you could tell that there were a lot of parts that were cut out before you got to where I was crying. And most of those days were when they asked me questions about my son. Before now, I travelled all my vacations with my kid. But while we were filming, I had to make a commitment. I could not travel. So my son had to travel on his own for the first time. Every three weeks, he was in Nigeria visiting. And it was the most dreadful emotion and feeling I have ever had, going to the airport, walking him and him going into the plane alone without me. Secondly, you had the camera with you for over 10 hours. It could be a day where I was supposed to meet the ladies. And remember, my son just flew six plus hours down to Nigeria, and I am on set till 2 am or 3 am. I am not having that time with him. So I would say it was difficult. But I am just lucky enough to have a kid that is amazing. And I think I have shown him time over time that he is the most important thing to me. And I love him. And the reason why I am doing all this is to provide a better life for us. And yeah, Ethan is an old man in his heart.

TheCable Lifestyle: Can you explain your connection with Laura and Tiannah?

Faith Morey: Laura is my girl. I always call her energy god. She is someone that is very vibrant, and you always need friends like that. She is also very ambitious. You have seen what she has done with her store. She is someone that would always figure out a way to make money.

For Tiannah, the first time I ever met her was at the charity auction. And the first thing she did was to apologise. It takes a lot for women to apologise, especially for everything that happened. So being a bigger person was one of the things for me. She is also all about her family, I am a family girl. Our kids bonded the first time they met. We have a lot of things that glue us together. She is an amazing person to me.

TheCable Lifestyle: If you had to identify someone on the show who you believe is not being genuine, who would that person be?

Faith Morey: That is an ironic question because I think one of the storylines they wanted to establish was the fact that I was the fake one. It was more believable, obviously, because of the way I carried myself. I would say, I do not know. I think viewers already knew. Yeah, you guys already know who it is.

TheCable Lifestyle: Dr. Romell accused you of attempting to get involved with Iyabo Ojo’s partner. Did you ever have that conversation with him and how did you feel about that?

Faith Morey: Well, it is not true. I do not want anybody’s man. You know, I am a single girl. I have been single for the past eight years. I was divorced. Nobody knew that. Unlike other celebrities, that their whole business is online. You know, I am very casual with my ex-husband. I have a great kid to raise. ‘She wants your man’. Then the final episode was, ‘She wants to get close to you’. Like, you can see the pattern. People lie. They cannot keep up with it. He will be alright.

TheCable Lifestyle: How would you respond to Iyabo Ojo’s comment about not liking you?

Faith Morey: Your haters are actually your students. I think even after filming, when we see at events, we will go, ‘hi’, ‘hello’, we will still do kisses. But when I watched the show, like the first three episodes, I was like, ‘hell no’, that is not going to work. I cannot be hugging up a snake.

TheCable Lifestyle: You also expressed your desire to be an actress, how is that coming along?

Faith Morey: We literally just finished filming the reunion, right? And right now, what resonates with me is giving back. The amount of love and support I received from PH, I do want to give back. So I can always go back to acting. But for now, my philanthropic work and my solo work are my priority.

TheCable Lifestyle: Now that RHOLagos season 2 is over, do you see yourself returning for another season?

Faith Morey: I think you have to be psychologically strong and mentally mature for you to be on a show like that because it can take a toll on you. But I also said on the show that after I left my marriage, I worked on myself for six, seven years. So it is very difficult for someone to get into my head. When I started my solar panel company, you would have white folks open the door and the dogs are chasing you. You would have people cursing you out, and people calling the cops on you because you are black and you are probably surveying the place to bring your own people to come rob them. So this is just, to me, a playground compared to the real world, what I see out there in my day-to-day life. So, yeah.

TheCable Lifestyle: What more should we expect from Faith Morey?

Faith Morey: So presently, for the solar company job, we just secured a contract, which I think will change my life for a long time and the life of my son. And people will get to see that. Like I said, I am not someone who just talks. I like to show my work also. And for being a philanthropist, obviously, we have worked with three schools so far. And me going to Port Harcourt to check out other schools that have reached out to us and just see if they fit into our outreach also. And if I can solely do this, anyone can. Imagine buying a purse, but that purse can actually save or help 40 kids in school. That is the way I evaluate things. Imagine buying a shoe for a thousand-something dollars; that is actually someone’s school fees, probably 10 kids’ school fees, a sacrifice to be made. So yeah, so far, that is what I am working on. And I will continue to do that because I love Port Harcourt.