Beverly Naya is a 35-year-old British-Nigerian actress who made her debut appearance in a Nigerian movie in “Leaving in Exile” and gained public attention for her amazing performance.
Not every Nigerian born abroad has this bad orientation about Nigeria being the worst place to thrive in any career. However, very few believe there are still opportunities to build one’s career and become highly successful around here, no matter what. Among the few that are successful following their decision to relocate back home for their career is Beverly Naya, a British-born Nigerian who relocated back to Nigeria to build her acting career and has been successful, with no regret for her decisions. Taking a look at these 10 facts captures her life and career.
Beverly Naya’s Biography and Profile Summary
- Full name: Beverly Ifunaya Bassey
- Date of birth: 17 April 1989
- Age: 35 years old
- Education: Brunel University and Roehampton University both in London
- Occupation: Actress, businesswoman
- Net worth: $500, 000 to $1 million
- Relationship: Single
Interesting Facts to Know About Beverly Naya
1. Beverly Naya is 35 Years Old
Beverly Naya, whose full name is Beverly Ifunaya Bassey, was born on 17 April 1989. She was born to Nigerian parents in London, the United Kingdom. Currently 35 years old, Beverly grew up in London. She has dual nationality of British and Nigerian.
2. She Hails from Oshimili in Delta State
The British-born Nigerian actress hails from Ibuzor, in Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta State, Nigeria, and is known to be the only child of her parents. She has a British-born Nigerian mother, who is known to be an industrious, hard-working, and encouraging mother, who always encouraged her daughter and gave her every support she needed to become great in life. Nothing much is known about her father. However, it is believed he was also born in Nigeria.
3. Beverly Naya Schooled Entirely in the UK
Beverly Naya had her primary, high school, and tertiary education in the United Kingdom. She studied Psychology, Philosophy, and Sociology at Brunel University but later changed to Dance and Drama. With a strong passion for acting, she went back to school to study Scriptwriting and Filmmaking at Roehampton University in London.
4. Beverly Naya Started Acting in 2006 at 17 Years Old
Having known what she would do for a living, Beverly Naya started acting at age 17 while she was still a student at Brunel University. She started with a few short films for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and The Metropolitan Police. Apart from these, she was also known to feature in other theatre productions, including Psychosis and Crave and Stoning Mary, a movie by Debbie Tucker-Green.
After featuring in some films in the United Kingdom, Beverly Naya made her first appearance in a Nigerian Movie titled “Leaving in Exile,” a film written by Lancelot Imasuen. Beverly played the lead role in this movie, and she became famous due to her role. Since that role, she has gained prominence in the Nollywood industry and keeps dazzling the audience through her performance and acting skills.
She is also known to have featured in several Soap operas over the years. She made her debut Television Series in 2013 when she starred in a BET TV series, “Passport,” shot in Atlanta, Georgia. On the verge of rounding off the TV series, Beverly secured for herself another role in “Tinsel,” M-Net’s best-rated soap opera. Beverly Naya has acted in many movies ever since her first movie appearance in Nigeria.
Beverly Naya’s movies include;
- Tinsel (2008)
- Guilty Pleasures (2009)
- Home in Exile (2010)
- Death Waters (2012)
- Weekend Getaway (2012)
- Up Creek Without a Paddle (2012)
- Forgetting June (2013)
- Alan Poza (2013)
- Stripped (2014)
- Make a Move (2014)
- When Love Happens (2014)
- Brother’s Keeper (2014)
- Before 30 (2015)
- Oasis (2015)
- Skinny Girl in Transit (2015)
- Suru L’ere (2016)
- The Wedding Party (2016)
- Dinner (2016)
- The Arbitration (2016)
- Affairs of the heart (2016)
- The Wedding Party 2 (2017)
- Shift Lemme Faint (Stage Play) – 2017
- Dibia (2017)
- Something Wicked (2017)
- Catcher (2017)
- Fractures (2017)
- Chief Daddy (2018)
- Shijuwomi (2018)
- Lockdown (2018)
- Fifty Shades of Black (a documentary) – 2018
- Demon Inside (2018)
- In Sickness and Health (2018)
- The Eve (2018)
- The Picture Perfect (10 years later) – 2019
- Skin (a documentary) – 2019
- Cold Feet – 2019
- Across The Rising Sun (2019)
- Jumbled (2019)
Featuring in numerous movies within a few years she joined the Nigerian Film Industry, Naya began rising the ladder to prominence. She has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that her decision to move back to Nigeria in the first place was never action in regret. According to her in one of her interviews with Encomium Magazine, when asked about her return to Nigeria, she said she knew immediately after her university education that she was going to act and that there is a better prospect in Nigeria for her, as she believed she could easily create or develop a brand from scratch and shoot more films frequently and also be given a more distinct number of roles.
5. Career Awards won by Beverly Naya
Over her years of acting in the Nigerian Film Industry, Beverly’s hard work, positive mindset, and relentless effort have brought her close to her goals and won her many nominations and awards in the Nigerian Entertainment and Film Industry.
Beverly Naya’s Awards include;
- Most Promising Talent at 2010 Best of Nollywood Awards
- ‘Fast Rising Actress’ at the 2011 City People Entertainment Awards.
- In 2014, Beverly was nominated for “The TV actress of the year at the ELOY Awards.”
- In 2018, she won the Best Actress Award at the Toronto International Film Festival for her role in “Demon Inside.”
- Beverly was named on Forbes 30 under 30 in Africa in 2018.
- She won the “Best Documentary” at the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA) in 2020 for her work “Skin.”
6. Beverly Naya Has a Great Fashion Sense
Known for her excellent fashion sense and classy touch of perfection in her dress code, Beverly is undoubtedly a classy fashionista. She is a lover of fashion, and style means a lot to her. Beverly is commonly known for her classy taste for Ankara, with which she has developed styles and designs to form brands and become a fashion model. Some of the Ankara styles she has been seen rocking around include:
- Falola Pants and Alika top
- The Imani set
- The Onika skirt
- The Zawadi dress
- The Mawusi Top and Nekessa Skirt
Beverly has one fashion weakness, and that is shoes. She is so crazy about shoes that she can pay any amount to get a pair of shoes that her heart desires, even though the shoes may not be that useful in the long run. An instance is a pair of shoes she saw Rihana wearing; she admired it and went ahead to pay 1,000 pounds for it. She later learned that the pair of shoes is hard to wear because it is not easy to pair up with any dress, due to the shoe’s color (it has an electric blue color), and she has never worn it since it was bought.
7. She Has Signed Numerous Brand Endorsement Deals
Having proven herself as a force to reckon with in the Nigerian Film Industry and one of the big actresses with huge fans and audiences, Beverly Naya has become one of the favorite celebrities for endorsements by big companies in Nigeria to run their campaigns.
Some of her endorsement deals include;
- Schweppes Nigeria Brand Ambassador.
- An endorsement deal with LG Africa.
- Beverly Naya was the host of the Verve Life 2019 edition.
- An endorsement deal with Darling Nigeria to be the brand ambassador of its numerous range of products.
- Beverly Naya is a brand ambassador for Nivea Nigeria.
8. Beverly Naya Has an Entrepreneurial Spirit
Besides being an actress, Beverly is also known for her business acumen, which has distinguished her as a versatile and highly dynamic individual with creative ability; this has enabled her to have her feet in other businesses outside acting.
Film Company
Beverly Naya flagged off her first company a few years back, named Be Naya Limited. A company established to serve as a platform for film production, beauty, and a couple of related businesses. The film production arm of the company has produced movies that are well rated.
Under the umbrella of this company (Be Naya Limited), Beverly has recently produced a documentary titled ‘Skin.’ The documentary stresses colorism and its effects on society. The issue of colorism impacts both women and men in African nations. Still, it has held up to beauty precepts connected with the ability of women to unearth success and marriage.
Beauty Business
Another arm is beauty, which is part of Be Naya’s expansion target. Beverly is a naturalist who has got natural long hair and sparkling chocolate skin, which she has maintained for many years now. She is warming up to build a brand through this and release interesting packages through the beauty business arm of Be Naya.
Food Production
Beverly Naya founded a company called the Naya Garri in the agriculture sector. One would wonder what her vision for this business segment could be but is more opposed to what is common in Nigerian society today.
9. She is Worth Between $500,000 and $1 million
Considering the value of her various businesses, her endorsements, and the values of her personal properties, Beverly Naya is estimated to be worth between $500,000 and $1 million. Beverly has come this far in her chosen career due to her determination and hard work, coupled with her good business sense. Indeed, she is an icon in the Nigerian Film Industry.
10. The Actress Has Been Linked to Several Celebrities
Beverly Naya has been linked to several men in the past, who the public believed she dated. But she has come out to deny any relationship with these men.
Flavour
There was speculation that Beverly dated Flavour at a point in time, but the British-born actress denied it, referring to it as a ridiculous rumor she has ever heard about her in her entire life. She said this during a couple of stills shot by Tobbie Maguire to mark her 25th birthday at a beach, where she answered 9 fun questions briefly after the photoshoot. She debunked the rumor, saying she has never met Flavour in person before.
In the interview, she was also asked why she has kept her relationship off the public eye, and she replied that she has always been a private person. According to her, if everything is put out there, one has nothing to admire, respect, and protect. She also stated in the interview that she’s currently dating but not into any relationship, believing strongly that the right man will come at the right time.
Uti Nwachukwu
Beverly was also linked to the 2010 BBNaija winner and show host Uti Nwachukwu in a relationship rumor she has also debunked. A source close to Uti said he wasn’t gay and was dating Beverly, claiming the romance has been on for a while; the source even stated that Beverly had been well received by Uti’s family.
However, Beverly stated that the rumor was false, deceitful, and could shake an ongoing relationship. She implores the public not to initiate a rumor for any reason, stating that her boyfriend wasn’t too delighted seeing that. Naya further went ahead to clear the air about her relationship with Uti, saying it was purely on a professional level, nothing more, nothing less. She expressed in her words, “Uti cracks me up a lot, and it’s always a pleasure hanging out with him, that’s all, we are not dating.”
Mawuli Gavor
Another celebrity that Beverly was rumored to be dating is Mawuli Gavor, a famous movie actor. Beverly Naya and Mawuli Gavor were the two lead actors in a movie titled “2 Weeks in Lagos,” released several months ago. The movie’s release spurred the dating rumor between the two, but Beverly has come out to refute and debunk the news.
As earlier said, the rumor became vigorous due to the two actors’ romantic role as a couple in the movie, and the controversial date night, which was held at Circa Restaurant on the 11th of February 2021 in promotion of the movie. Meanwhile, Beverly told Buzz Nigeria that she is not in any form of relationship with the actor, explaining that what brought the two of them together was the movie and nothing more.
These are Beverly’s words:
Who is Beverly Naya Dating Now?
As much as she would have loved to be in a serious relationship, Beverly Naya seems not to have come across the right man for her yet all this while. However, everybody knows what they want in their partner. Beverly has defined in clear terms what she wants in her man to be. According to her, “a tall, handsome, caring and God-fearing man.”
For her not to have settled for a serious relationship shows that she is yet to come across that Mr. right who will have these qualities fulfilled. Getting a real man is becoming tougher by the day, no even in the case of big-time celebrities like Beverly, who have become successful already in what they do. For a lady of her status, coming across a man that will truly love, care, and accept her for who she is and not what she represents may take a little long while. Beverly is currently not into any relationship but hopes to go into one if the right man comes along her way.