A look at the seemingly normal suburban lives of African women as they seek to live out their aspirations through their families, career and relationships, set in the middle-class development on Hibiscus Lane on the Lekki Peninsula in Lagos. It begins with the shocking suicide of Rume Bello ; a beautiful housewife, known for her warmth and generosity. In death, Rume delves into the lives of the friends she left behind – commenting from her now elevated perspective. Her intimate circle of friends who are confused by her death, are introduced. Tari Gambadia who is divorced, single-mother looking for love; Funke Lawal a corporate high-achiever turned stay-at-home mum of four children who create a huge scene at Rume Bello’s wake seriously embarrassing her; Ese De Souza, a devout and perfectly groomed housewife and mother of two teenagers, who is dealing with the outcome of her family’s rejection of her façade and standards; Kiki Obi, ex Nollywood actress and trophy wife whose marriage to a rising movie financier Chuka Obi fails to satisfy her deepest needs, and she turns to her personal trainer, Tai Etim to alleviate her boredom. We are also introduced to the neighbours on the Lane including Rhetta Moore a twice-divorced real estate broker with a voracious sexual appetite, who aggressively competes with Tari for the affections of handsome newcomer, Larry Izama who we later discover came to Hibiscus Lane with a hidden agenda. Tensions rise as Kay De Souza asks his wife Ese for a divorce; Chuka Obi treats his wife Kiki like she is on his payroll; Shina Lawal is oblivious to his wife’s frustration and growing desperation; Deji Bello, Rume’s now widowed husband, seems to express his grief by suspiciously digging up his garden. Rume narrates the series from her vantage point, giving an insight into the lives, mysteries and conflicts of these four intriguing women.
Auditions for various roles were announced in December 2013. Mo Abudu the CEO and executive producer led the production. Directed by Quinty Pillay, the cast members were mainly from Nigeria. The names of the cast were changed from names in the original show, in order to have African names. Michelle Dede plays Susan Mayer while Nini Wacera a Kenyan actress plays the adapted version of Bree Van de Kamp, as Kehinde Bankole plays Gabrielle Solis.Omotu Bissong plays Lynette Scavo, Mercy Dolapo Oni plays of Mary Alice Young and Linda Osifo plays Edie Britt. The supposed 'husbands' that depicted the original version were, Joseph Benjamin playing African version of Carlos Solis, Larry Izama plays Mike Delphino, Femi Branch plays Paul Young, Ben Touitou plays African version John Rawland, Ozzy Agu plays Tom Scavo and Samuel Robinson plays Zach Young. On July 30, 2015, the show went for a production break in order to replenish the remaining nine episode. It took over from September 3, 2015 from the fifteenth episode of the first season.
Broadcast
Desperate Housewives Africa premiered across the African continent and beyond on Ebony Life Television that is available on Multichoice dish, DSTV Channel 165 on 30 April 2015.
