Pere Egbi: Biography, career, movies, BBNaija

With the commencement of a new season of Big Brother Naija, the biggest reality television show in Nigeria, it is apt to look back at some of the previous housemates who were on the show like Pere Egbi. Relatively unknown before the show, he is gradually on his way to becoming a household name in the entertainment industry.

But who is “The General”, as Pere Egbi is fondly called, an individual who has garnered love and also courted controversy among Nigerians?

Biography

Pere “Perez” Oghenemaro Egbi was born on 27 June 1985 in Warri, Delta State. He is from the Urhobo tribe in Delta State. He is the first child of two children in his family.

Pere had his primary and secondary school education in Warri, where he was born and subsequently bred as a teenager. He then moved to Lagos and continued his education at Command Secondary School, Lagos. After secondary school, Pere left for the U.S. to study at the University of Texas. He graduated with a degree in Nursing and subsequently became a certified and professional nurse.

He is a dark-skinned male and his height currently stands at 6″2 feet, meaning he is tall.

Career

After graduation, he concentrated on his nursing career as he worked in various hospitals in the North American country. After working for a while as a nurse, he then switched careers and joined the U.S. army.

Pere served in the U.S. army. According to him, he participated in a tour of Afghanistan with fellow soldiers in the US-led NATO military campaign against terrorists. After six years of service, Pere left the army in 2017.

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Upon his departure from the U.S. army, Pere looked to the entertainment and media space to launch a new career. He featured in some Hollywood movies in the U.S. To enhance his career, he returned to Nigeria. He started as a newscaster in Lagos and later delved into acting and scriptwriting. To brush on his acting skills, he is said to have attended the Pencil Film And Television Institute (PEFTI), Lagos. It is, therefore, not surprising that he featured in SuperStory, the award-winning Nigerian TV series by Wale Adenuga Production.

Apart from being an actor, Pere is also a fitness enthusiast who likes to work at the gym to keep fit. As a result of his masculine physique built in the gym, Pere is also a well-sought-after model who has worked on various shoots for various magazines and fashion designers.

The actor is a multifaceted personality as he is a realtor, who acts as an agent for the sale and purchase of buildings and land. Recently, he became a reality TV star, having featured in BBNaija. After his largely successful stint on the show, Pere landed more acting gigs and also became a brand ambassador and/or influencer for various brands. Some of the brands he is signed to or influenced for include a skincare company, a cryptocurrency app, a pay-TV company and a luxury jewellery brand.

Movies

Pere has featured in some movies, both in Hollywood and Nollywood. When combined, he has starred in about a dozen movies both in the US and in Nigeria, and he has been able to showcase the dexterity of his acting skills.

Below is a list of some of the movies he has featured in.

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Hollywood movies

Nollywood movies

Pere Egbi BBNaija

Pere entered as a housemate for the sixth season of Big Brother Naija (BBNaija), entitled: “Shine Ya Eye”. The SYE season was the second to hold amid the COVID pandemic.

Pere was ushered into the house by the organisers of the show as a “wild card”, which meant that he got on the show as an additional housemate after the stipulated number of contestants. He would have been eliminated from the show if his fellow housemates had found successfully executed Big Brother’s task and found out who he was. However, he and Maria, the other wildcard contestant, shielded their identities from their other housemates and manoeuvred their way, thereby earning a continued stay in the house after the first week.

Pere immediately forged a reputation as a tough personality who does not condone irrational behaviour or deception from people. He got the nickname “The General” from his fellow housemates not just because of his previous military stints, but because of his authoritative behaviour in the house.

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This was accentuated during his stint as the Head of House. He governed the house as if he was in a military barracks, as he frowned at indiscipline and caused a raucous when he directed WhiteMoney, the resident chef, to leave the kitchen and hand over duties to another housemate. According to the actor, WhiteMoney was using his culinary skills and home maintenance duty as a strategy to showcase himself to the fans of the show to vote for him.

The actor was entangled in a romantic “situationship” with his fellow wildcard contestant, Maria. The duo seemed to like themselves and jelled during the early weeks of the show. Their similar thought process and point of view on various subject matters even aligned them further and made fans of the show “ship” them as a couple. However, cracks began in their affair after the fourth week, with accusations by both of them of high-handedness and lack of trust. The relationship floundered at that point until Maria was evicted from the show.

As the show progressed over the weeks, Pere gradually began to moderate his harsh stance of talking and approach and began to mingle more with the housemates. This change won him many fans, who were pleased to see his “other side” and his popularity level gradually soared to high levels than what it was for the first four weeks of the show. His stay in the house was almost threatened after he was issued a strike by Big Brother for microphone infringement.

Pere survived a very tricky and harrowing eviction show in the final week as he survived a fake eviction to book a spot in the show’s final. He stayed in the house for the entire 72 days and finished as the second runner-up (third position). Despite not winning the grand prize, Pere went home with a brand new car he won during a sponsored task on the show.

Family

As earlier mentioned, Pere is the firstborn of two children. According to him, he was raised by a single mother and his father was an expatriate who left his family behind when departed from the country.

In terms of his own immediate family, Pere was married to Pamela Heoma, an American. However, the duo got divorced, thereby making Pere currently single.

Net worth

This may be difficult to determine because the former housemates do not fully disclose their financial status in public for obvious reasons.

However, it can be deduced that Pere is currently smiling to the bank, following the endorsement deals he has inked after coming out of the BBNaija house.

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