Bahati speaks on losing elections despite government ties
Musician Kevin Kioko, better known as Bahati, has expressed his heartfelt gratitude to his wife, Diana Marua, for her unwavering support in helping him realise his dream of producing a reality show.
The couple recently launched their show ‘The Bahati Empire’ on Netflix and are celebrating its remarkable success.
In a candid interview with NTV’s The Trend, Bahati shared the challenges he faced in trying to bring his vision to life.
The musician revealed that after a series of rejections from local broadcasters, his aspirations were almost dashed.
“I came to a place and I stood up. We had dreamed of doing a big show in Kenya, especially unscripted. We had invested about Ksh 15 million in equipment. It was the only thing I wanted to do. I had lost the election and lost everything. Even though I was the President’s right hand man, I still failed to win the position of MP. It was a lesson and I could not call the President. So when I was wondering what else I could do, we did the pilot of our show.
We knew we had a good show, but first of all people had not seen us as producers, they had not seen us as executors. They were not sure if we would deliver and getting a chance on Netflix was a mega deal,” said Bahati.
Bahati contested the Mathare parliamentary seat in the 2022 elections but came third.
He stressed the crucial role his wife, Diana Marua, played in pushing him to pursue his dream despite the setbacks.
“We tried several places but the response was not positive. My wife pushed me to do this. We were very open about telling our story. She said, ‘Let’s go to the biggest platform. Diana pushed me to try Netflix. I can’t believe we’re working on season 2 now.
Bahati also took the opportunity to advise other men to appreciate and listen to their wives’ insights.
“Sometimes I think I can tell men to always listen to your wife. She believes in me more than I believe in myself. I had lost hope, but she pushed me to do bigger things,” Bahati said.