Former Hostel actress Eleanor Nabwiso describes her husband as a friend who was just heaven sent. “I can still describe him as heaven sent. We have been married for now three years but we are still best friends. We are like twins,” a jolly Eleanor describes Mathew Nabwiso. In an interview with Mikolo, she opened up about her happy marriage with the apple of her eye, a man she says is ‘God sent’. Eleanor and Matthew met on cast at the Fast Track Production offices here in Kampala in 2010. Their love grew by the day until they tied the knot.
Tell us how you met Mathew Nabwiso
I met Mathew at the auditions of the Hostel. He came and said Hi to me and told me I looked familiar. I was a member of obsessions group before I joined the hostel. When we finally started acting together in the hostel, we became good friends. With time, we started moving out to have fun. We grew much into each other.
And when did the actual dating start?
I can’t say we had a time frame to start dating but all I remember was our friendship grew deeper and we couldn’t control it. He confessed to me how he had developed feelings for me. He told me he wants me to be his wife. To me, it was too good to believe. I was excited deep inside. I asked him if he was that serious.
What really attracted you to him?
He is generous, he is too good to people. Sometimes, one may think he’s faking the nice character but that’s the real him. Nansibo praises her prince charming. I saw the man of my life the first time I set my eyes on him. He is too humble for life. I loved that about him. Secondly, he showed me it is me he wanted to be with. Among all the girls in the hostel, he kept on praising me all the time. I wouldn’t want him to stop complimenting me.
How long did it take him to propose to you?
It took him a small time. In a space of one year after meeting, Mathew proposed to me. I went to visit him at his place and stayed there for a night. I think he had planned it. In the middle of the night probably at around 2:00 am, he woke slowly and placed a ring in my figure. He later slowly woke me up and I found him on his two knees asking me to be his wife. I was sleepy but later realised all. I was super happy and just said yes to him.
Oh, that was so nice of him. So after the proposal, what happened next?
He told me to inform my parents about his intentions to visit them. We planned it there and then. In our second year, we planned our wedding and introduction at the same time. I love Mathew so much….
Why I love Matthew- Eleanor
Eleanor quickly said, “he is cute”. When I ask her about Nabwiso’s flaws or things that annoy her about him, she takes her time thinking about it and even after this, says there are none she can point out, which could confirm the fact that indeed, she does not keep grudges. Having established that there are no flaws about the 'perfect gentleman', I then ask what he likes most when it comes to feasting. “He likes fish, Matooke and the groundnut paste the most,” she adds, reflectively, a woman definitely in love.
Ever available Mathew…
Eleanor says her husband has always been there for her. We have three children. Through all the pregnancies, he has always been there for me. We move together even when the stomach is big. He took me to antenatal care. He is one man who has never missed being in the labour ward when I am giving birth. He has never been out when I am there. He’s just that lovely.
Mathew has a special friendship with my parents- Eleanor
Eleanor further says that her husband is too friendly with his mother in law. My parents keep telling me that Mathew is just heaven sent. They add that they have never met a man of Mathew’s kind. He is just rare. They love him so much.
Our marriage tricks
Her definition of marriage is friendship, an agreement where mutual understanding flourishes. “Married people should be friends first, and have respect for each other,” she advises. But couples should not overstep their boundaries by disrespecting each other because they are friends.
For a successful marriage, she thinks it’s about preparation and marrying for the right reasons. On whether marriage is being trivialised these days, Nansibo agrees and attributes it to people marrying for the wrong reasons. “You marry a prince and you end up with a gateman after the wedding,” she tries to illustrate.
For us, “I can say it’s purely friendship that has kept us together all this long,” says Eleanor. “Matthew still does things for me like he used to when we had just met.” “He cleans the house, takes care of the family, we are true friends,” she explains before adding that; “he still surprises me and this keeps our love alive.” Eleanor says, she sees no point in marrying a prince and end up with a gate man.