It’s one thing to be known for your stint on reality TV. It’s another to transcend the screen and become a full-blown expression of creativity, vulnerability, and reinvention. For Okusaga “Saga” Adeoluwa—artist, engineer, fitness enthusiast, and former Big Brother Nigeria housemate—the world isn’t just a stage; it’s a canvas.

Since charming his way into the hearts of viewers with his humour, heart, and expressive nature on Big Brother Nigeria Season 6, Saga has proven he’s not your average reality star. He’s a man of many layers—an emotional being unafraid to show affection, a gifted visual artist whose works speak volumes, and a passionate dreamer who channels his energy into art.

In this interview with THEWILL DOWNTOWN’s Johnson Chukwueke, Saga opens up about life post-Big Brother Nigeria, the role creativity plays in his healing, how fame has shaped his journey, and what fuels the art behind the artist. We also dig into the things that keep him grounded—family, hobbies, love, and his never-ending pursuit of self-discovery.

 

You’ve been described as a multi-hyphenate—artist, fitness coach, engineer, and reality star. How do you balance all these roles without losing yourself?

I try to focus on one thing at a time instead of juggling at the same time. I was first an engineer, I did that for a couple of years, I balanced art with engineering. I did engineering in the morning, and then art in the evening. Then, during COVID, everyone was home, so I started fitness training; I had time for that during the day, as well as my engineering work and then art at night, as always. Then Big Brother happened. I quit my engineering job, and now I am an actor, so when I can, I still paint at night. I don’t really do fitness training anymore, so it’s acting, influencing, and painting when I have the time. So, usually, I just focus on what’s in front of me, and I don’t try to do it all at the same time.

 

Your hyper-realistic art has received considerable attention. What inspires your work, and how did your journey as an artist begin?

If you ask me what I am deep down, I will tell you that I am a creative; it just depends on the canvas or medium I choose to express that creativity. I was the kind of child who, when I was little and went to parties with my mum, would get lost, and my mum would tell people that she knew where I was. She wasn’t wrong because you would find me standing close to the drummer, just watching him as he played, that was like when I was 3-4 years old. I was in the music band and played drums in church, and I was even a drum major in school. I used to go for art competitions as a kid, but my parents didn’t see it as anything. I performed at some point in my childhood, although I didn’t start drawing until after university. I have always looked for a means to express myself, and drawing has always been in me somewhere because drawing or painting has been a straightforward means to express yourself as an artist.

 

You studied engineering at the University of Lagos. What made you pivot into creative arts and fitness full-time?

Even when I was in school as an engineer, I was still part of the choir in school; I just always looked for a means to express myself. I was in the music department, I was in the drama department, I used to act on stage at Unilag in the auditorium. I used to also act at the theatre, I did drama and singing while I was an engineer, and I always had the chance to draw, and to me, that was okay, I didn’t even know it as something serious, it’s just something I loved to do, fitness as well.

Now when I finished university, I didn’t get a job, I was broke, and I needed to get my girlfriend at that time a gift, but of course, I didn’t have any money for a gift, so I thought I should draw her, and that’s how I started drawing. Because of that, I trained for six days and officially became an artist. After that, I needed to pay for the training, so I started taking commissions, and I started paying the guy half of everything I was earning till I could pay him off completely. Within six months of learning to draw, I was nominated Best Artist in Nigeria, so I was improving so fast. Shortly after that, I went to serve in Bayelsa, and then I got a job as an engineer in an oil company, so I went back to engineering, which I didn’t think I could do. I started juggling art and engineering for a long time till COVID. The time I was an engineer, I was in the gym, still dancing and drawing, and many people felt I was out of place. So when COVID came, I had time on my hands, and I started training people via WhatsApp. It was a big WhatsApp group that I had people from the U.S., Canada, all around, and I was training them on fitness, and they were paying me till I eventually lost my job, and I focused on fitness fully. So, it was COVID that really gave me the chance to explore my creative side because I lost my job as an engineer. People told me, “Oh, you should go for Big Brother, you are creative,” and I had never heard of Big Brother, but I eventually attempted the first time, and I got in. The good thing is that my interviewers loved me more cause I was an artist and an engineer. So I got on the show and tried to show my talent as a fitness guy even though I had never trained anyone physically before Big Brother, it was all online. Most of the time, when I try any of these creative talents, I just get it immediately because it’s innate. So, after Big Brother, I got an opportunity to act, thanks to Uzee Usman. I have always wanted to act, but I never got the opportunity or knew anyone in the industry or how to go about it. So Uzee called me and gave me an opportunity to fly to Abuja to act, and I guess he loved my performance so much cause he recommended me to other producers, and that was 2023 ending, like two years since Big Brother, and the rest, like they say, is history.

How has life changed for you since Big Brother Nigeria? What opportunities surprised you the most after the show?

Okay, let me put it out there that I never even resigned from my job before I went for Big Brother because there was no guarantee you would even get in when you were just auditioning. So I just told them I had COVID-19, and then they saw me on television. So yeah, it was definitely a reckless move, to be honest, but I couldn’t quit my job just in case so that I would have something to come back to. Coming out of the house, I saw I had developed a following on Instagram and other social media platforms, so I decided to explore the creative side of me. I didn’t go back to engineering; I sent them a resignation letter, properly resigned, and dove into the deep waters of entertainment with no prior knowledge or godfathers, just relying on my guts and my wit. It was tough because all I knew was the corporate life before Big Brother, but with grace and talent, I was able to pull through despite the mistakes initially. I was able to survive somehow, but it was really tough because there were a lot of people I didn’t know. I would walk into a room full of actors and industry people, and I would whisper to my friends to tell me whenever I needed to greet someone because I didn’t know anybody. I just focused on my talent, posted a lot of content, and showed people what I was capable of.

 

You’re very expressive and emotional—a contrast from many men in Nigeria’s public space. Has that vulnerability helped you connect more deeply with your audience?

I like the fact that you started by saying I am an expressive person, even in my art. I try to find every canvas to express myself; I don’t shy away from expressing my emotions in any way. The good thing as well is that in Big Brother’s house, I feel like our fan base resonates with who we are from the house, you know, so my people are very easy-going, and soft, just like myself. I feel like they already identify with me as an emotional kind of guy, so I just stuck to who I am, no need to change any narrative about myself, I am the kind of person who was raised by my mum, and I was raised to be soft, to see life easily, to be open about how I feel, not bottle things down, and that has affected my career path. As an artist and an actor, it really helps if you are expressive because you can’t succeed in the theatres or in the movies if as an actor, you are blank. That part of me has helped me be who I am today, and my supporters resonate with it.

 

You’ve done some public speaking and mentorship—what’s your advice to young Nigerians struggling to follow non-traditional paths like yours?

I believe a lot in myself, and many young people should develop that mentality. I believe I am the star of my own story, and I believe all things work together for my good; that’s just the faith I have in myself. When I have an idea, I pour myself into it as much as I can and hope for the best. To the young Nigerian who has an ambition, don’t let anybody push you out of your dream, chase your dream, be your loudest cheerleader, and go for it. But if you go for it without having faith in yourself, that is bad; you must have faith in yourself and the drive as well, because they are two different things. Some people have that faith, and they will not execute it, while some people have the means to execute it, but they lack faith. You must have both of them and hope for the best because everything I have attempted has been me jumping into the unknown. Going from engineering to BBN(Big Brother Nigeria) without knowing what it was, and then from BBN to acting. I go head-on and also work on my talent, I am not going to dive into things without anything to show for it.

You often combine your passions in creative ways—any upcoming projects where fitness, art, or entertainment collide?

So, I am going to say this here first: I am working on producing my first film, in which I will combine a bit of my creative side and my acting side. I don’t want to give the whole scoop here, but I will combine both sides. I am working on that, and hopefully, before the end of the year, it should be on our screens.

 

Fitness is a big part of your brand. Can you walk us through your personal fitness philosophy and how you motivate others to stay consistent?

My personal fitness philosophy would be “Start today, stop the procrastination.” Go register at that gym, start today. If you think you are chubby and fat now, you could be chubbier and fatter tomorrow; there’s always worse; if you think you are unhealthy now, you could be worse tomorrow; that’s number one. Then number two would be, it’s actually 70% diet and lifestyle, and 30% gym. So you need to work on your diet depending on whatever goals you have in mind. If you want to lose weight, you need to lose weight in the kitchen first; if you want to gain weight, you have to gain weight first in the kitchen, and then you work in the gym. If you just focus on the gym, you won’t really achieve your results as much as you want. My third one would be a lifestyle, if you want to live healthily, it’s not just the gym, you need to sleep well, you need to have good hygiene, take your supplements, avoid some toxic things that can ruin your physical state, and just live healthily. What you put inside you and how much rest you have affects you.

 

What do you want your legacy to be—when people mention Saga Deolu in 10 years, what should come to mind?

Honestly, I want to be able to inspire people, I want my work to be able to inspire others, that’s what I want to leave behind, I want to touch lives. I am still in the early stages, but in the next 30-40 years, I want to have another person out there inspired by me who’s fighting for his dream, showcasing himself as much as he can, that’s what I want. I want to inspire others.

 

What does a perfect, no-work, no-camera day look like for you?

I am going to sleep at least 8-9 hours. I am telling you that’s just a perfect no-work day for me, and I don’t care. Sometimes, I work late nights, and then the following day is my rest day. I could also get a good workout in, come home, listen to music, shower, I have a couple of friends come over, we play games, watch movies, and I go back to more sleep. That’s just a good rest day for me, just quality time with friends and family.

 

What role does your family play in keeping you grounded with all the fame and creativity swirling around you?

As you said, family keeps you grounded; that’s what it is. As a celebrity, you can have your head in the clouds, you can lose your sense of direction, it can get really confusing, and your inner compass could be messed up. But when you have quality friends and family around you, they will recenter you. I come home, we talk about random stuff, and they properly check on me; this isn’t the Instagram life and comments; they are people who actually care about me. We talk, I see how I can help them however I can, we talk about the old and recent times too, and they also watch my back. In this business, you can’t see it all, you need eyes at your back, front, and sideways, so I have friends and family doing that. I talk to them, and they tell me what I should do or should have done better when I create content, I send it to them first, and they look at it, when I want to sign a deal, I send it to them to know their thoughts, even if I am talking to some girl, I talk to them about it, and they advise me, so yeah, that sort of thing.

Are you a morning person or a night owl? What’s your daily routine like these days?

I am a night person, you don’t need to go too far. You know I said earlier, right from when I was an engineer, I painted in the evening or nighttime, so my body clock has been wired funny. I come alive in the nighttime, I might look exhausted, but I can work all night, anytime, any day, it might show on my face that I am tired, but I can go all night, and sleep all morning. You see when I wake up in the morning, I am usually slow, I just want to meditate, eat, do some skincare, and go to the gym. But at night, that’s when I can really plan, develop ideas, and paint. All these happen in the night.

Johnson Chukwueke
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