'I don't know what came over her' — Kate Henshaw opens up on drift from Genevieve Nnaji

• The actress revealed there was no major fight, just a gradual distance that left her confused at the time.

• Henshaw says she has now accepted Genevieve’s preference for solitude and reflected on how friendships change with time.

Veteran Nollywood actress Kate Henshaw has spoken candidly about the gradual collapse of her once-close friendship with fellow screen icon Genevieve Nnaji, saying she still does not fully understand what caused the distance between them.

Speaking on the Tea with Tay podcast, the 53-year-old actress reflected on a friendship that faded without a dramatic fallout, a defining moment, or a clear explanation.

"We grew apart. Maybe she had some kind of mistrust about me. I don't know what happened. I don't know what came over her," she said.

Henshaw said she and Genevieve Nnaji were once very close and often attended events together, particularly during the early years of Netflix's presence in Nigeria, before they gradually lost contact.

The drift, she noted, was not the result of any single incident. There was no fight, no public falling out, just a slow and unexplained withdrawal that left Henshaw questioning what, if anything, she had done wrong.

Despite the years of distance, the two eventually found themselves on the same set again, filming a Netflix commercial in South Africa. Henshaw said Genevieve was warm and pleasant throughout.

"She was very pleasant to me, she was very nice, and I was like… okayy?" she recalled.

The experience helped Henshaw understand that Genevieve's behaviour was never personal and that the actress simply enjoys her own space and occasionally withdraws from people around her.

This is not the first time Henshaw has addressed the subject. In a 2023 interview, she described Genevieve's pattern of pulling away, saying: "She pulls away from everybody, and you are like, am I smelling? What have I done?" She concluded that interview by comparing Genevieve's preference for solitude to that of Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie, and said she respected her choices.

The consistency across both interviews suggests Henshaw has made peace with how things turned out.

Back on the Tea with Tay podcast, Henshaw reached for a metaphor to explain what she has come to understand about friendships over three decades in the industry.

"People are in your life for different seasons and reasons. Some are roots, some are branches, some are leaves. The roots will always remain grounded. Then there are branches with their tendency to break. Then the leaves … gone. They dry up with the seasons," she said.

The comments have since sparked conversation online, with many Nigerians siding with Genevieve's right to privacy, while others commended Henshaw for her openness.

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