Lebanese actress Nadine Nassib Njeim shocked her fans when she announced plans to retire by 2021.
The former Miss Lebanon 2004, best known for starring in TV series such as ‘Al Hayba’ and ‘Khamse W Noss’, revealed that there is a 90 per cent chance she will retire from acting in the next year to focus on being a mother, which she referred to as “the true happiness”.
“Something that people might not know, is that every day, I say I want to leave the profession,” admitted Njeim.
“For one reason — I want to spend as much time as I can with my children, because [with them], I feel an intense happiness and a sense of peace that is not normal,” she added, during an interview with Emirati-Moroccan actress Mayssa Maghrebi, host of Dubai TV’s ‘Dubai Cruise Show’.
Njeim, 36, also revealed that the thought of retiring is not random, but rather something she thinks about on a regular basis.
“The idea has been playing on my mind a lot and it’s getting very close, to the point where by next year, there’s a 90 per cent chance that I will be gone,” said Njeim.
“Why? Because I feel like my children, at this age, they need me — and I need them. I need them even more than they need me,” said Njeim, adding that her children take her away from unnecessary negativity.
The mum-of-two also opened up about her recent divorce from Hady Asmar, her husband of nearly eight years.
She confirmed their split in September of last year.
While Njeim had initially stated that the sweetness remaining between them is their two children, Heaven and Jovanny, she has now opened up about why she keeps reasons behind their break-up private.
Njeim said that when there are children are involved, there is no room for he-said-she-said, nor airing your dirty laundry in public.
“I am the one who’s under the limelight — not my husband, nor my children. Today, anything I do could impact them in the future. So, I chose to keep quiet; even if I’ve been wronged, or even if there were times where I should have spoken up, I didn’t, because what’s important to me is their best interest,” said the actress.
Njeim often posts pictures of herself with her children on her Instagram — where her bio lists ‘mother’ before ‘actress’ — and shared an image with her daughter Heaven three days ago, captioning it: “My heaven my daughter my life.”
