The streets of social media went wild with excitement as Big Brother Naija Shine Ya Eye fave, Maria Chike Benjamin joined the cast of Dilemma. She plays the role of the older Noelle who ran off with Yinka in 1998 to get married after her grandmother was killed. Following the death of her husband, Noelle returns to Lagos only to discover that he gambled all their money away and left her with an enormous debt.

She is desperate and obsessed with maintaining her looks and appearance. She is stubborn and willful - an entirely different person from the Noelle who left Lagos in 1998. The young naïve girl who ran for her life has returned as a scheming, calculating woman, who continues to stay ten steps ahead of all of the players in the game. She is a loving mother, torn by grief, and seems almost obsessed with her only son, determined to save him from danger and the threat of death by any means necessary.

Not a newbie

Just in case you didn’t know, Maria isn’t new to acting. Remember how she hid her identity as the Wildcard so well in the BBNaija House and none of the other Housemates suspected? We cannot forget her Oscar-worthy performance when she walked back to the lounge in tears and convinced the other Housemates she had been tasked with nominating some of them for Eviction.

Twitter goes wild

Her fans popularly called the Marians couldn't hide their joy as they watched their fave grace the screen.

The fans didn't just stop there, they went the extra mile to spread the word about Dilemma.

The best part? Dilemma got new viewers too. Win-win for everyone involved!

Of course, they dropped a few words for the unbelievers. Their fave is Maria, it is only right they brag different.

There’s plenty more of Maria to see as she shows off her amazing acting skills on Dilemma showing every weekday on AM Showcase at 20:00 WAT.