Phyna: How I mismanaged my BBNaija win

Reality TV star and actress Ijeoma Otabor, popularly known as Phyna, has reflected on what she described as major financial mistakes she made after winning the 2022 “Level Up” edition of Big Brother Naija. Speaking during a recent livestream, the 28-year-old admitted that she did not properly manage her prize money and attributed much of […]

Reality TV star and actress Ijeoma Otabor, popularly known as Phyna, has reflected on what she described as major financial mistakes she made after winning the 2022 “Level Up” edition of Big Brother Naija.

Speaking during a recent livestream, the 28-year-old admitted that she did not properly manage her prize money and attributed much of the problem to the financial support she provided to family members.

“I mismanaged my BBNaija winnings,” Phyna said, explaining that she spent a significant portion of her earnings helping relatives and responding to various requests for assistance.

According to her, she believed she was doing the right thing at the time by helping family members with medical bills and other personal needs.

“I was helping people because I felt it was the right thing to do. There were requests for medical support and different personal projects, and I kept giving,” she said.

Phyna lamented that no one close to her advised her on how to preserve or invest the money she earned from the reality show.

“No one told me how to keep the money or invest it properly,” she said.

She further disclosed that problems began to emerge when she could no longer meet every request for financial assistance.

“The issues started when I began saying no to some requests. Things changed when I reduced the financial help,” she stated.

The reality star also spoke about her strained relationship with family members, saying the challenges predated her rise to fame.

“I was treated harshly growing up, and many people never expected me to succeed,” she said.

Expressing regret over some of her decisions after leaving the reality show, Phyna said she sometimes wishes she had approached certain situations differently.

“Sometimes I wish I had done things differently after winning, especially when it came to reconnecting with family,” she added.

Her comments come against the backdrop of previous public disagreements with members of her family. In the past, Phyna dropped her family surname and spoke openly about feeling disconnected from her roots.

In a 2023 interview, her father, Felix Otabor, claimed he had not seen her since her Big Brother Naija victory and alleged that she failed to fulfil promises made to the family.

The latest remarks shed more light on the personal and financial challenges Phyna says she has faced since attaining fame through the reality television show.