Nigerian chef, Damilola Adeparusi, popularly called Chef Dammy, has said the backlash she faced after her 2023 cook-a-thon attempt left her broken.

She spoke on Thursday in an interview clip shared by Instablog9ja, where she opened up on the struggles that followed her sudden rise to fame.

According to her, she never expected the cook-a-thon to go viral, and even her parents only found out after it started trending.

She said, “My interest in cooking started when I began living alone as a student. Even the cookathon, I didn’t know it was going to be viral. I didn’t even tell my parents about it; they just saw me. I was shocked to see myself on social media.”

The 26-year-old explained that the online bullying and criticisms took a heavy toll on her.

She added, “If you had asked me this question two years ago or a year ago, I might be crying. But now I’m happy I can talk about this without crying.

“There was a time in my life I was even telling God, ‘Can this wait a bit? Can I at least forget some things?’ I felt overwhelmed. The cyberbullying was just a little compared to what I experienced in real life. I was bullied, I was assaulted. I was broken. Social media broke me.”

Chef Dammy gained attention in June 2023 when she joined the trend of Guinness World Record-inspired cook-a-thons that swept through Nigeria.