Nigerian comedienne cum Nollywood actress, Chioma Omeruah, popularly known as Chigul, has opened up about how she deals with critics body-shaming her on social media.
Naijaonpoint reports that in an interview with Punch, Chigul stated that as a plus-size woman, the criticisms sometimes hurt her feelings.
The thespian also stated that she considers herself “a work in progress” and will not allow body-shaming to stop her from doing the right thing.
She said, “I am fat. Your truth is your truth; and we’re all works in progress. Yes, we don’t say ‘fat’ anymore; they say ‘plus size’ or whatever. I still use ‘fat,’ because if you go to school, the opposite of ‘thin’ is fat.
“However, I now realise that I’m a work in progress. I love what I see and who I am.
“I’m not a size 12. But I also know that there’s probably nobody like me, and people can’t do what I can do. If the (acting) roles are not coming because people want someone smaller and younger, that’s fine. But I won’t let that stop me from doing what I feel I should be doing.”
“I won’t lie, yes, it does sometimes get to me. If I’m in the wrong mood, it might pinch me a bit, because we all have ups and downs. But what I do now is, I delete the comment. I go to anybody who liked that comment, I delete and block them too.”
Sharing her opinion on people who body-shame others, the filmmaker added, “People who body-shame or hurt people, are also hurt. They have their own insecurities. That’s why you they feel the need to body-shame people. Even when people come to my comment section and say things like, ‘I’m just trying to help you’, I block them immediately. If you’re trying to help me, then send me a message. Don’t call me out publicly. That way, I believe you just want five minutes of fame. And, I can end that five minutes by deleting and blocking you. And, that is what I do now.”