"I'm going through a divorce with my husband. I have been homeless for a year, and I have been hurt sexually and physically, so if anything happens, ask or hold the man who brought me to a country where I know no one."
Former Big Brother Africa housemate Karen Igho, also known as Karen, has publicly announced her intention to divorce her estranged husband, Yaroslav Rakos.
The couple married at a private ceremony in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria, in 2014 after a nine-year relationship; the union, fraught with challenges, produced two children in 2015 and 2017.
In a post on her Instagram handle on Tuesday, Karen revealed the struggles she has endured, stating, "I'm going through a divorce with my husband. I have been homeless for a year, and I have been hurt sexually and physically, so if anything happens, ask or hold the man who brought me to a country where I know no one."
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Karen Patience Igho (@karenigho)
The 40-year-old accused her husband of attempting to take their children away under the guise of claiming she has a mental illness a claim she denied. "I'm not mentally sick, and I don't do drugs," she tweeted.
The Big Brother Africa 2011 co-winner, who relocated to the United States, has also asked her fans for prayers.
"God Almighty bless Nigeria and Africa. My heart prays for your daughter of the soil. I have been through so much this past year. Please pray for me and my children. If you don't hear from me again, know that I have been killed," she wrote,
Karen shot into the limelight after winning the Big Brother Africa reality show in 2011. She was the first African and Nigerian female to win the reality TV show after carting home $200,000 alongside Wendell Robert Parson from Zimbabwe. The Delta State native starred in the popular Nigerian reality show The Next Movie Star in 2009.
After winning the show, she made her acting debut in the M-Net hit series "Tinsel
She's also featured in movies like 'Blackberry Babes Reloaded'.
She also hosted a show on Naija FM, 'Wetin dey' with on-air-personality, Ifektive.