‘Daddy Freeze’, as he is fondly
referred to, is an ace broadcaster and On Air Personality with many
years of experience. Freeze, whose real name is Ifedayo Olarinde is a
man of controversial taste but still a fan favorite. He is currently the
host of the Road show Cool FM’s evening Drive Show which holds between
4pm and 9pm.
BACKGROUND
Freeze is an indigene of Osun
State but he is not full blooded Nigerian. On his mother’s side, he
hails from Transylvania, Romania and sometimes jokes that Dracula is his
great uncle. He was not born in Nigeria but he spent most of his
growing years in Ibadan. He attended the University of Ibadan where he
graduated after earning a degree in Sociology.
LIFE AS A BROADCASTER
Freeze has been in the
broadcasting business for over 15 years. Speaking on his broadcasting
career and how it has panned out, he once said, “It’s not a job anymore,
it’s a way of life. Put a microphone in front of me and I’ll start
talking. Broadcasting is what I do.”
His first radio gig was a brief
three month stint with Radio Galaxia in Romania while he was there on
holiday in 1996. He had accompanied a cousin of his to the station where
she hosted a kids’ programme and from there he got the inspiration to
try his hands at radio.
He came back to Nigeria that
same year and auditioned for a job at BCOS Ibadan which he got. He went
on to work there for 5years. Speaking in an interview with Punch in
January 2014, Freeze revealed that he was paid 1,500 naira at BCOS
Ibadan, a small stipend judging from the fact that MTN’s first recharge
card at that time was the same amount.
In 2001, Freeze started work
with Cool FM as a broadcaster and production officer. According to him,
he got the Cool FM job as he was leaving university and ended up doing
his NYSC there.
During the course of his career,
Freeze has been privileged to have one on one interviews with likes of
top local and international acts including Boyz 2 Men, Angie Stone,
Akon, Brian McKnight, Sisquo, Joe, SWV, Brick and Lace, Wycleff Jean,
Caron Wheeler, Sean Paul, Kool and the Gang, Tuface Idibia, Dbanj, and
Charlie boy amongst others.
OTHER ENTERTAINMENT ENDEAVOURS
Asides been a broadcaster,
Freeze has also served as a host for a bunch of music concerts and
comedy shows. He has anchored Nollywood movie premieres in Nigeria,
Ghana, London and Manchester. Some of his hosting gigs include: Dbanj
Entertainer Album Launch, Yes Records Launch in Ghana, TEE A Live in
London in 2007, Basket Mouth Uncensored in Manchester 2011, Naija Comedy
Blast London & Manchester in 2006, Julius Agwu’s “Crack Ya Ribs” in
London 2009, and A.Y Live in 2011.
In 2011 Freeze was a judge
alongside KCee of the now defunct KC Presh group and Paul Play Dairo on
Star Quest, a highly participated talent show.
Freeze has also been a popular
face on TV as a lot of people got to know him when he hosted 3 seasons
of “Coca-Cola Mega millions”. He has hosted a lot of game shows and live
telecasts including: Multilinks Telcoms’ ‘Break the bank’, MLotto
mobile lottery, The John Utaka Premier league Challenge, amongst many
others.
FREEZE AND SOCIAL MEDIA CONTROVERSIES
Freeze has come under fire a
couple of times due to some of the statements he made on social media,
on air, or in interviews. He once got into an issue with popular
producer, Don Jazzy when he interviewed Tonto Dikeh and made a statement
about a celebrity that gave out recharge cards on Twitter to get fame.
Don Jazzy took offence as he saw himself as the one who the statement
was directed towards and this led to the trading of words on Twitter.
The issue was eventually resolved.
Freeze has always been a man of
high tastes and in an interview with Punch, he dissed the international
brand, Michael Kors calling it ‘razz’. He also mentioned that he had a
collection of watches worth over 32 million naira. A lot of people took
to Twitter and Facebook to air their disagreeing comments on his
opinion.
He has also publicly blasted
artiste, Etcetera on Twitter for his continuous string of articles that
were directed to numerous celebrities and entertainment industry
figures.
Freeze is currently married to a lovely wife he met in his university days. The two have been blessed with 2 kids; a girl and a boy.
RECOGNITION
In 2014, Freeze won the award
for “Favourite Nigerian On-Air Personality” at the Nickelodeon Kids’
Choice Awards 2014 which held in Los Angeles. He has also been nominated
for numerous other awards.
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