Veteran Nollywood actress Shaffy Bello has opened up about her experience dating a younger man and why she won’t do it in the future.

She made the stunning revelation during an appearance on the latest episode of Ifedayo Agoro’s Dear Ife podcast.

Admitting that she once dated a younger man for the fun of it, she explained that she has no intentions of doing it again because she is now in a different headspace, and what she is looking for is different.

Aunty Shaffy, as she is fondly called in Nollywood, revealed that she is open to getting married again, although she now views marriage from a broader and less rigid perspective than most Nigerians typically do.

She also revealed that both younger and older men still slide into her DM at 54. She, however, described some of them as “badly behaved” owing to their manner of approach.

“Yes, men still slide into my DM. When you’re over 50 and young men still slide into your DM, that’s flattering. But some of them are just badly behaved. Some will come and say, ‘Hi dear.’ You know, you just want to insult their mother. But it’s flattering,” she said.

On dating younger men and her position on marriage, she explained that “I can’t date a younger man. There’s no need to. I’ve done it before, but I don’t want to do it again. I think what I want now is different. When I dated the younger man, I was having fun, and it was for a season. That season is over. But there’s nothing wrong with dating a younger man.

“I know for sure what I want now is marriage. I don’t mind marriage, but I have a very different opinion when it comes to what we [Nigerians] believe marriage is. I think a lot of people are very rigid when it comes to marriage. I would rather leave it there.”