Nigerian chef, Damilola Adeparusi, popularly known as Chef Dammy, has opened up about the difficult journey that followed her rise to fame during her 2023 cook-a-thon attempt.

In a recent interview with Instablog9ja, the young chef revealed she never imagined the event would gain such wide attention.

“My interest in cooking started when I began living alone as a student. Even the cook-a-thon, I didn’t know it was going to be viral. I didn’t even tell my parents about it; they just saw me. I was shocked to see myself on social media,” she said.

However, the sudden fame came with challenges. Chef Dammy recounted how the cyberbullying and pressure affected her deeply.

“If you had asked me this question two years ago or a year ago, I might be crying. But now I’m happy I can talk about this without crying.

“There was a time in my life I was even telling God, ‘Can this wait a bit? Can I at least forget some things?’ I felt overwhelmed. The cyberbullying was just a little compared to what I experienced in real life. I was bullied, I was assaulted. I was broken. Social media broke me,” she admitted.

She is currently undergoing her professional culinary training at the Hospitality Business School in Lagos. (Vanguard)