Tuesday 20 October

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Entertainment

Nollywood, Afrobeats, celebrity and everything on your screen.

  1. Former BBNaija housemate Avala announced on Instagram on Thursday, 1 October 2026, her birthday, that she and fiancé Fawazzy are expecting a child.
  2. Avala and Isilomo were the first housemates evicted from BBNaija Season 4, Pepper Dem, on Sunday, 7 July 2019, after one week.
  3. Fawazzy proposed to Avala in June 2026, and her verified Instagram account had about 326,000 followers on 1 October 2026.
Gist Reel

Reality TV · 3 min read

BBNaija’s Avala reveals pregnancy with Fawazzy on her birthday

Avala's 2019 BBNaija run ended after one week. Seven years on, she used her birthday post on Thursday to tell 326,000 Instagram followers that she and fiancé Fawazzy are expecting.

Former BBNaija housemate Avala is expecting her first child with her fiancé, Fawazzy. The news came on Thursday, 1 October 2026, tucked into the bottom of a birthday post on Instagram. The joint reel, posted from her verified account with Fawazzy as a collaborator, opens as a birthday message to herself. The pregnancy arrives in a postscript addressed to him:…

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VideoEast of Eden trailer: Netflix on YouTube

TV & Streaming · Video

10 movies and shows to watch this October, from Matchbox to MKO

Florence Pugh's East of Eden is already on Netflix and the MKO documentary hits Nigerian cinemas on Friday. Here is where and when to watch all ten, and which ones are not out yet.

Ten picks for your screen this October, from a John Cena action romp on Apple TV to the MKO documentary opening in Nigerian cinemas on Friday. These are the movies and shows to watch, ranked by GistMatrix. It is an editorial ranking, not an official chart. Three of the ten are already out. Four more land on Friday, 2 October,…

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VideoVideo: Magic Carpet Studios on YouTube

Nollywood · Video

Passport of Mallam Ilia animated movie heads to Sharjah, Trinidad

Magic Carpet Studios will show its unfinished take on Cyprian Ekwensi's 1960 novel at two festivals abroad this month, eight years after the Lagos studio took on the project and with no Nigerian release date yet.

The Passport of Mallam Ilia animated movie is going on the road before it is finished. Magic Carpet Studios, the Lagos studio adapting Cyprian Ekwensi's 1960 novel, said on Thursday, 1 October 2026 that the film will screen as a work in progress at two festivals abroad. First stop is the Sharjah Animation and Comics Conference in the United Arab…

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VideoTrailer: Sheffield DocFest on YouTube

Nollywood · Video

MKO documentary premieres in Lagos with Tinubu, cinemas Friday

Ose Oyamendan's film on Moshood Abiola and the annulled June 12 election got its Independence Day premiere with the president, the Senate President and three governors watching. It opens in cinemas nationwide on Friday.

Updated 10:35am WAT, Friday, 2 October 2026: MKO is now in Nigerian cinemas, and director Ose Oyamendan says the producers had to mortgage the film to finish it. Updated 10:30pm WAT, Thursday, 1 October 2026: President Tinubu and the First Lady attended the premiere on Thursday evening; guest list added. President Bola Tinubu and First Lady Oluremi Tinubu attended the…

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  1. Disqualified BBNaija Season 11 housemate Keivo, real name Victor Ikpe, had posted nothing on Instagram since 20 September 2026 when GistMatrix checked on 30 September 2026.
  2. Legit.ng reported on 30 September 2026 that Keivo cleared BBNaija content from his page, but his posts from 9 August to 20 September were still visible that evening.
  3. Keivo said in a message on X, reported by Arise News on 1 October 2026, that he takes full responsibility for the fight with Tram that got him disqualified on 29 September.
Gist Reel

Reality TV · 4 min read

Keivo’s Instagram after BBNaija disqualification: what’s really gone

Reports say the disqualified housemate wiped BBNaija from his page. At 6:20pm WAT on Wednesday his August and September vote posts were still up, his bio still named the show, and nothing after 20 September was showing.

Updated 11:30pm WAT, Thursday, 1 October 2026: Keivo has broken his silence in a message on X, taking full responsibility for the fight with Tram, Arise News reported. Updated 8:45am WAT, Thursday, 1 October 2026: a fresh logged-out check of Keivo's Instagram page on Thursday morning showed 51,800 followers, up from 49,400 on Wednesday evening, and his bio still naming…

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  1. Nollywood actor Cjay, born Chijioke Temidayo Nwokafor, died on Wednesday, 30 September 2026, actress Nkechi Blessing Sunday announced on Instagram.
  2. Nkechi Blessing cancelled the 30 September release of her movie Egusi Ogbono, in which Cjay starred, after his death.
  3. As of 10:30pm WAT on 30 September 2026, no cause of death or statement from Cjay's family had been made public.
Gist Reel

Nollywood · 4 min read

Nollywood actor Cjay dies as Nkechi Blessing shelves Egusi Ogbono

Nkechi Blessing, who says she spoke to the Anambra-born actor at 8am on Wednesday, pulled her new movie hours before release. No cause of death or family statement had been given as of 10:30pm WAT.

Nollywood actor Cjay, born Chijioke Temidayo Nwokafor, has died. Actress Nkechi Blessing Sunday broke the news in an Instagram video on Wednesday, 30 September 2026, and Premium Times reported his death at about 9:56pm WAT the same day. The loss landed on what was meant to be a launch day. Cjay starred in Nkechi Blessing's new movie, Egusi Ogbono, which…

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VideoVideo: YouTube

Celebrity · Video

VeryDarkMan drops 7-minute video as Apostle Arome row enters week two

The activist says the church is part of Nigeria's problem, a week after a clip of Arome Osayi saying the country's calling is revival, not building engines, went viral. Pastors have lined up on both sides.

Martins Vincent Otse, the activist known as VeryDarkMan, posted a 7-minute-44-second video on his Instagram page and YouTube channel on Wednesday, 30 September, keeping up his fight with Apostle Arome Osayi. His caption set the tone: "They ask why I am criticizing the church as of the church is the problem of the country.....let me open your eyes." By about…

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  1. Adekunle Gold told BBC Radio 1Xtra that a sickle cell crisis on a flight to Tanzania left him unable to walk; the clip was posted on 29 September 2026.
  2. The singer said he left the plane in Ethiopia in a wheelchair for the first time and a doctor told him to drink more water whenever he flies.
  3. His foundation launched 5 Star Care, free health insurance for 1,000 people with sickle cell in Lagos, on 19 June 2025.
Gist Reel

Celebrity · 4 min read

Adekunle Gold: sickle cell crisis on a flight put him in a wheelchair

The singer told BBC Radio 1Xtra that the pain started as cramps on the way to Tanzania and got so bad the crew nearly landed early. A doctor in Ethiopia gave him one simple rule for flying.

Adekunle Gold thought it was bad airport food. It was a sickle cell crisis, and by the time his plane reached Ethiopia he could not walk. The singer, born Adekunle Kosoko, described the episode in an interview with Eddie Kadi on BBC Radio 1Xtra. The station posted a clip on Instagram on Tuesday, 29 September 2026, and Nigerian outlets including…

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  1. Nollywood actress Destiny Etiko greeted Ghana on Instagram on Wednesday, 30 September 2026, writing "Let's make a good movie" as Nigerian stars arrived to shoot Lil Win's A Journey to Africa.
  2. Ghana's GBC reported that Kanayo O. Kanayo, Patience Ozokwor, Mike Ezuruonye, Zubby Michael and Destiny Etiko landed in Accra on Wednesday, 30 September 2026.
  3. A Journey to Africa is set in Nzulezu, a stilt village on Lake Tadane in western Ghana; no release date or Nigerian platform had been announced as of 4:27pm WAT on 30 September 2026.
Gist Reel

Nollywood · 4 min read

A Journey to Africa: Destiny Etiko, Nollywood stars land in Ghana

Kanayo O. Kanayo, Patience Ozokwor, Mike Ezuruonye and Zubby Michael are also in Accra for Lil Win's Ghana-Nigeria movie, set in a village built on stilts over a lake. Etiko's own post says what they came to do.

Five Nollywood stars, one airport and a Ghanaian director with big plans. Destiny Etiko, Patience Ozokwor and three other Nigerian actors landed in Accra on Wednesday, 30 September, to shoot A Journey to Africa, the new movie from Ghanaian actor and filmmaker Kwadwo Nkansah, known as Lil Win, Ghana's state broadcaster GBC reported. GBC named the arrivals as Kanayo O.…

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  1. Funke Akindele and skit maker Kamo State posted a joint Instagram skit promoting Starlomo at about 9:40am WAT on Wednesday, 30 September 2026.
  2. The reel passed 101,000 likes by about 3:30pm WAT on 30 September 2026, days after fans questioned Funke Akindele's absence from the 20 September premiere.
  3. Starlomo, directed by Kayode Kasum and distributed by FilmOne, has been showing in Nigerian cinemas nationwide since Friday, 25 September 2026.
Gist Reel

Nollywood · 4 min read

Funke Akindele and Kamo State’s Starlomo skit tops 100,000 likes

The pair posted a joint Instagram reel on Wednesday morning, 30 September, five days into Starlomo's cinema run and ten days after fans asked why the Nollywood box-office queen skipped Kamo State's premiere.

Ten days ago, people were asking where Funke Akindele was. On Wednesday, 30 September, she turned up in a skit with Kamo State, and the Instagram reel had passed 100,000 likes within six hours. The joint post, shared at about 9:40am WAT on the verified accounts of skit maker Akinyoola Ayoola, known as Kamo State, and actress-filmmaker Funke Akindele, promotes…

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  1. Jennifer Lawrence will star in Zach Cregger's original sci-fi thriller The Flood, New Line Cinema and Warner Bros confirmed on Tuesday, 29 September 2026.
  2. Warner Bros has dated The Flood for cinemas on Friday, 11 August 2028, a slot it first announced at CinemaCon in April 2026.
  3. No Nigerian distributor or cinema date for The Flood had been announced as of Wednesday, 30 September 2026, nearly two years before release.
Gist Reel

TV & Streaming · 3 min read

Jennifer Lawrence to lead The Flood, Zach Cregger’s 2028 sci-fi movie

The Oscar winner is the first name cast in the Weapons and Resident Evil director's original space thriller, due in cinemas on Friday, 11 August 2028. How the project got to Warner Bros is a twist of its own.

Zach Cregger is still counting Resident Evil money, and his next movie already has its star. Jennifer Lawrence will lead The Flood, Cregger's original science-fiction thriller, New Line Cinema and Warner Bros confirmed on Tuesday, 29 September 2026. Cregger writes, directs and produces. Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment is on board as producer with Roy Lee and Miri Yoon of Vertigo…

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  1. Netflix's A Different World drew 4.2 million views in its first four days, ranking No 4 on the English TV Top 10 for 21 to 27 September 2026.
  2. Nollywood veteran Richard Mofe-Damijo, known as RMD, plays Mr Chukwu in episode 7 of the sequel, which premiered on Netflix on Thursday, 24 September 2026.
  3. FlixPatrol ranked A Different World the No 1 TV show on Netflix in Nigeria on Tuesday, 29 September 2026, and all 10 episodes are streaming now.
Gist Reel

TV & Streaming · 4 min read

A Different World hits Netflix top 10 with 4.2m views and an RMD cameo

The sequel to the 1987 sitcom did it in just four days, and Nigerian viewers have a reason of their own to watch: Nollywood veteran RMD turns up in episode 7 as a worried Hillman College parent.

Four days. That is all Netflix's A Different World needed to pull 4.2 million views and land at No 4 on the platform's global English TV chart, according to the Netflix Top 10 for the week of 21 to 27 September 2026, published on Tuesday, 29 September. The sequel to the 1987 NBC sitcom only arrived on Thursday, 24 September,…

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