Nollywood actress and filmmaker Ruth Kadiri has revealed that her uncertainty about marriage influenced her decision to keep her wedding away from the public eye.

Kadiri made the disclosure while discussing her marriage on the Dear Ife podcast, where she said she was afraid of what could happen after getting married and was not ready for the relationship to become a public affair.

“I had a phobia of marriage,” Kadiri said, explaining that she was dealing with a fear of the unknown and questioning whether her decision to marry would work out.

The actress said that concern also shaped the way she and her husband approached their wedding. Rather than hold a large ceremony, they agreed to invite only 50 people, with each of them choosing 25 guests.

Kadiri said she also wanted to avoid the drama that could come with making her relationship public.

Her husband, she added, supported the decision to keep the ceremony small and private.

The actress has previously spoken about her decision to maintain a private marriage, clarifying that she was not hiding her husband. In a 2025 appearance on the same podcast, she said keeping their relationship away from public scrutiny had helped her define her marriage without outside influence.

Kadiri has also said that her husband, who is not a public figure, prefers to stay away from attention. She noted that the couple attends church and events together, while people who know them personally are familiar with him.

The actress married her husband, Mr Ezerika, in a private ceremony in 2018. They have two daughters, born in 2019 and 2022.