Veteran Nollywood actress Joke Silva has shared the thoughtful reason she didn’t adopt her husband Olu Jacobs’ surname after marriage and it turns out, the decision came from him.
Speaking on the Leadership Podcast with Stephen Akintayo, the 62-year-old screen legend revealed that her husband encouraged her to retain her maiden name as a strategic branding move during the early days of her career.
“He [Olu Jacobs] was the one who actually advised that I don’t. Because he understood the importance of branding,” she said.
“He was like, my brand has started building as Joke Silva and changing brands several years after one has been using that brand, as far as he was concerned, could cause problems for me.”
Though she remained Joke Silva in the public eye, she made it clear that in private circles, everyone knew her as Mrs. Jacobs.
“So, we kept the name Joke Silva as the brand, but within the circles, there was nobody who didn’t know I was Mrs Jacobs. It really didn’t matter.”
Silva and Jacobs have been married for over 30 years and are one of Nollywood’s most admired couples. Their story remains a shining example of love, mutual respect, and partnership rooted in purpose on and off the screen.
