Former Big Brother Naija housemate, Anto Lecky, has spoken about the challenges she faced after leaving the reality show.
Naijaonpoint reports that the reality TV star said there has been a perception that women who join the programme are only after fame or use it to trade their bodies.
She explained at a public event that her journey after the show was not easy, as people often questioned her intelligence and professional ability because of her past on television.
According to her, walking into corporate spaces came with judgmental looks and doubts about her capability.
Anto said she refused to be discouraged by such opinions and instead focused on developing her skills, talents, and education to prove her worth.
She said that women are often told they are not strong or smart enough, but the best way to overcome such bias is to keep building competence.
She encouraged young people to keep learning and improving themselves, stressing that the right opportunities will always come to those who are prepared.
She also advised them not to be discouraged by rejections, but to apply for jobs and seek communities where their abilities can be noticed.
Anto maintained that self-belief, preparation, and continuous growth are key, as they make it easier for one’s work to be recognised when the right chance comes.
She said: “You do not want to work for a company that does not give you the opportunity to prove yourself. So I’ll use myself as an example. Many of you might know me.
“I was on a reality show. However, many years ago, everyone has this idea that people that go on Big Brother, especially women that go on Big Brother are going there to sell themselves and I don’t mean sell themselves professionally, literally sell themselves.
“So oftentimes when I go into rooms, people who might not, you know, might not know me. So I’m like, Oh, don’t you know her? she’s Anto from Big Brother. And I really see that look in the person’s eye. I just want to do things for back.
You know, it’s something that I have accepted that people will say, I don’t cry about it. I don’t feel bad about it. We will always face these challenges as women who think that we’re less strong.
“They’re not as smart and we belong in the other room. These companies will exist. What you have to focus on is like we’ve said, your skills, your talents, your education, what you can do.
“Someone out there is looking for the skills that you have. Don’t worry about the people who are not looking for you. There’s someone that is looking for you. So continue to, like we said, learn, unlearn, and relearn. There will be the day that someone will see your CV and they’ll be rushing to you. That exists.
“It is what it is. And when it comes to these opportunities, Oh, they say 10 year, three year, many of these things, the experience apply for those jobs. One year, however much your experiences apply, you never, sometimes it just happens by magic that someone says, Oh, I like this person.
“This person’s work is up to it. But of course, keep practicing. There’s other ways to get opportunities. Like they said, there’s communities, there’s groups, there’s places where you can find people that are fine with the entry level experience.”
© 2025 Naijaonpoint, a division of NOP Media Inc. Contact us via [email protected]