Arnold Olatunde, an Ultimate Love reality show housemate, has denied stealing from the Lagos hotel room where himself and Bolanle, the female with whom he was paired, lodged amid the COVID-19 lockdown.
Ultimate Love, the last edition of which Rosie and Kachi, two reality TV stars, had won, was hinged on finding love as couples, which might or not lead to marriage with a prize worth millions.
The 32-year-old writer took to his Instagram page on Saturday to release a statement wherein he gave his side of the story in the allegation.
He said he’s very much aware of a voice note making the rounds on social media insinuating he looted the hotel during their lodge.
Arnold described the claims as a “defamation of character”.
He also alleged that it was Bolanle who requested he moves out of the room, which was paid for by the organisers of the show.
“A voice note is being circulated over the internet insinuating that Arnold under the guise of his birthday went away with everything in the hotel room he had been staying with his partner Bolanle under the auspices of multichoice due to the pandemic lockdown,” the reality TV star wrote.
“This is very untrue and incorrect as Arnold moved out of the hotel room as requested by Bolanle for reasons best known to her. On his birthday, the sum of N1,500,000 was presented to him as a gift with N1,000,000 coming from the BOLAR parents figures for him to rent an apartment.
“Also the sum of #500,000 from BOLAR fans was received weeks after his birthday on the 25th of June 2020. The sum of #1,000,000 was credited directly to Arnold’s account and a big part of this was refunded back to the Parent figures when Bolanle insisted on being given half of the money.
“This was to be her share because she wasn’t interested in getting an apartment. The information being passed across with the VN is not only painting a wrong picture of Arnold as a fraud but also, painting Bolanle as a liar that would malign Arnold’s character just to make herself into a saint.
“This is defamation of character and slander. And the brand of Arnold will not tolerate lies against his person nor will it let detractors use Bolanle’s name in an attempt to legitimize their dirty claims. Arnold is not a scam but a young man who went to find love on the show and is being tortured.”
According to Arnold, Bolanle and himself are trying to sort out the controversy between themselves “amicably” and legal action will be taken on persons that mete out further slanders on both parties.