Ifedayo Olarinde, better known as Daddy Freeze, is a Romanian-Nigerian radio talk show host, social media influencer, and broadcaster.
Daddy Freeze Biography
Ifedayo Lucian Olarinde, also known as Daddy Freeze, was born on May 6th, 1976. He was born to a Nigerian father and a Romanian mother. Daddy Freeze is the first child of four children. Yetunde, Omolola, and Oluremi are his three younger sisters. He is from Osun State.
Daddy Freeze has dual citizenship because, despite being brought back to Nigeria and spending the majority of his formative years in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State, he was born in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
He received his early schooling in Ibadan and attended the International School Ibadan for his secondary education.
He continued his education at the University of Ibadan, earning a bachelor’s degree in sociology.
Career
He actually began his career while on vacation in Romania. In 1996, he happened to land his first radio gig at Radio Galaxia, Romania, which lasted for three months.
He launched his career when he joined his cousin Gina, a youth program host.
He moved back to Nigeria the same year and found work at the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS Ibadan) where he spent five years and was paid N1,500, a very small amount at that time but he was doing what he loved most.
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Daddy Freeze left BCOS Ibadan and found work at Cool FM in 2001. Since he had already landed the job after graduation, he was able to complete his NYSC service at Cool FM.
He had the chance to meet and interview A-List artists from all over the world while working as a broadcaster at Cool FM, including Akon, Boyz 2 Men, Angie Stone, Sisquo, Joe, SWV, ASA, Caron Wheeler, Brian McKnight, Brick and Lace, Sean Paul, Wyclef Jean, Kool, as well as top Nigerian performers like Tuface Idibia, D’banj, Charly Boy, and OLuchi Orlandi, among many others.
Daddy Freeze isn’t just a broadcaster; he also works in other aspects of the media. He hosts some comedy and music events and the premieres of Nollywood films in Nigeria, Africa, and occasionally abroad.
Daddy Freeze, along with Paul Play Dairo and KCEE, served as a judge on Star Quest, one of Nigeria’s most watched and well-liked talent competition shows. For three seasons, he served as host of the program Coca-Cola Mega Million. He has also hosted game shows and live broadcasts for the MLotto mobile lottery, The John Utaka Premier League Challenge, Multilinks Telcoms’ Break the Bank, and numerous other programs.
Freeze announced his resignation from Cool FM, where he had spent more than 20 years, in 2020.
Controversies
Daddy Freeze stated that marriage dissolution shouldn’t be attributed to the devil. This was in response to a post by reality television personality Ka3na, who accused the devil of recently dissolving marriages.
Daddy Freeze stated that flaws and individual mistakes, not the devil, are to blame for dissolved marriages.
On February 18, 2021, a Port Harcourt high court asked Daddy Freeze to pay N5 million in restitution for having an extramarital relationship with Benedicta Elechi, with whom he had a son, in 2015.
The presiding judge gave him the mandate to give the money to the lady’s husband. To prove his case, Paul Odekina, Benedicta’s husband, used technological, visual, and documentary evidence. Additionally, Benedicta Elechi herself confessed to the crime.
At the time, both Benedicta Elechi and Daddy Freeze were married to different partners. Elechi fell pregnant during their adulterous relationship, and as a result, Daddy Freeze’s marriage to Opeyemi, his wife, ended.
A Lagos high court formally annulled his marriage in 2019.
Elechi, on the other hand, was unable to substantiate her claims of abandonment and inappropriate behaviour against her husband, and the judge ended their marriage due to Paul Odekin’s cross-petition.
Daddy has been one of the most contentious broadcasters in Nigeria. He posted his opinions on tithing on social media and even urged Christians not to pay tithe. He thinks church leaders are extortionists who demand money from their flock. He challenged every church leader to give back every tithe they had received from their parishioners in a video interview posted on youtube.
Daddy Freeze is highly passionate about religious matters, particularly those involving Christianity. He has gained both friends and foes because of his actions. He disapproves of the notion that certain clergy members use their congregations as a source of income. He thinks the church’s resources should go into caring for its people. Over this matter, he has criticized many pastors and church officials. Pastor E. A. Adeboye and Bishop Oyedepo are just a couple of them.
Many famous people, like Kizz Daniel, have felt Daddy Freeze’s neck. On social media, the former broadcaster, who is now a preacher, criticized Kizz Daniel over a jacket the musician was wearing. He posted this on Instagram and claimed that while he likes everything about the artist, Kizz Daniel should stop wearing counterfeit goods because it is a crime.
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Daddy Freeze net worth
Daddy Freeze’s current net worth is estimated to be over $1.5 million.
Church
He is the founder of the Nigerian FreeTheSheeple movement and the pastor of the FreeNation in Christ virtual church (social media). He and his adherents have an original perspective on Christianity and Christian engagement in Nigeria and Africa.
Although he was already a well-known broadcaster on Cool FM Lagos, Nigeria, his detractors helped him become more well-known. He has received a lot of attention because of his contentious taste.
Family
He is the father of two kids. However, he had a broken marriage and maintained that he had been the victim of domestic abuse at the time. Many people were puzzled by this, wondering how a woman could beat up a man as physically fit and healthy as Daddy Freeze. To support this, he provided photographic evidence.
Years after his first marriage crashed, Daddy Freeze tied the knot again with his longtime business partner Benedict Elechi in a low-key wedding in the United Kingdom.
Conclusion
Due to his consistent efforts as a media figure, Daddy Freeze has gotten numerous honours and recognitions for a person of his caliber. Following is a list of a few of his honors:
- Nigerian Broadcasters Merit Awards, The Most Popular Radio Presenter (2011).
- Mode Men, Radio Personality of the Year (2012).
- Nigeria Entertainment Awards, Best Radio/TV Personality (2013).
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