Kenyan comedy star and cultural force Blessed Njugush joins Chude Jideonwo in a searing episode of the viral show #WithChude. Njugush shares how relentless bullying shaped his introversion and creativity, and how moments meant to silence him instead forged an unbreakable inner resolve. From being the smallest child in class to being beaten so often his mother had to beg other parents for mercy, Njugush opens up about a childhood marked by pain and the quiet, burning need to be seen.
In one of the episode’s most arresting moments, Njugush recounts a suicide attempt as a boy, tying a rope in his family kitchen and calling his brother to say goodbye, only to be saved by his mother and brother arriving just in time. The scars followed him into adulthood: being dismissed in creative rooms, told to leave rehearsals, and repeatedly underestimated. Yet when opportunity finally came at university, he seized it with everything he had, holding his character steady even as others laughed. The conversation also captures a powerful full-circle moment: after a critic sneered that Njugush could never match the likes of Lupita Nyong’o, Lupita herself reached out, declaring herself a fan and blessing him. “If Lupita is watching us,” Njugush reflects, “then the yardstick has started measuring itself.”
The episode does not flinch from adulthood’s hardest tests either, losing work, questioning his ability to provide, nearly walking away from his marriage, and a terrifying night when a missed phone call during his wife’s emergency almost cost their child’s life. In the quiet aftermath, Njugush speaks about responsibility, power, and the weight of showing up. From a life-changing KSh 5,000 call to the global recognition he carries today, this is Njugush unfiltered: wounded, resilient, and luminous. It is a story of how pain can sharpen purpose—and how, sometimes, the voice that tried to disappear becomes the one millions gather to hear.
WATCH EPISODE: https://vimeo.com/1154262944
