Every Ghanaian has been rejected at some point, whether it’s a job, an audition, a pageant or your crush’s WhatsApp, and in the moment it always feels like the end of the world.
These eleven Ghanaian celebrities were also told "no" or "not yet" at the start of their careers, and they went on to become some of the country's biggest names.
Check out the list
1.
Black Sherif
Before “Second Sermon” and “Kwaku the Traveller,” Black Sherif tried out for MTN Hitmaker and didn’t make it to the live shows. He told CitiTV’s Upside Down that he passed the first audition but not the second, and that he then auditioned for TV3 Mentor and didn’t get through that either. A few years later, he won Artiste of the Year at the 2023 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards.
2.
Delay
Delay has said that she always wanted to work at the Multimedia Group, but years ago she was sacked and told never to come back, and she still doesn’t know why. “I always wanted to work there, but my destiny was not there,” she said on her own show last year, adding, “So, I’m grateful for the dismissal.” Today she is one of the best-known TV hosts in the country with The Delay Show, and she is also the CEO of Delay Foods.
3.
Berla Mundi
She entered Miss Malaika and came out second runner-up. She went into TV instead, starting on GHOne’s Rhythmz and now hosts New Day and The Day Show on TV3. Years later, she went back to Miss Malaika as a host and judge, and she has said that although she didn’t win, she “won at something else.”
4.
KiDi
In 2013, KiDi auditioned for Vodafone Icons and didn’t make it to the live shows. He later shared a throwback video of that audition, in which he sang the Fugees’ “Killing Me Softly,” with the caption, “Year 2013 I auditioned for Icons, but I didn’t make the cut for the live shows.” He’s now one of the best-known Afropop singers in Ghana.
5.
Yvonne Nelson
In 2005, Yvonne Nelson competed in Miss Ghana and left without a prize, after GhanaWeb reported that she “wobbled and fumbled” through her answer at the grand finale. She went on to become one of Ghana’s most famous actresses and a film producer, and in 2023 she published her memoir, I Am Not Yvonne Nelson.
6.
Camidoh
Camidoh auditioned for MTN Hitmaker hoping to make it into the final twelve, and he wasn’t picked. He kept going, and in 2023 he was nominated for Best New International Act at the BET Awards.
7.
Anita Akuffo
Anita Akuffo was a finalist at Miss Malaika and finished second runner-up at Miss ECOWAS in 2012, so she didn’t take the crown at either. She built a TV career instead, first on GHOne and then at TV3, where she co-hosts Ghana’s Most Beautiful and Date Rush. In 2023 she won Female TV Show Host of the Year at the National Communications Awards.
8.
Fameye
Fameye was on MTN Hitmaker in its third season and was evicted before the finals. He kept releasing music until “Nothing I Get” took off in 2019, and then followed it with “Praise” in 2021, which won Songwriter of the Year, and “Not God” in 2023.
9.
Efya
Efya finished third on the first season of Stars of the Future in 2006, behind winner Irene Logan. She went on to win Best Female Vocal Performance at the Ghana Music Awards four years in a row from 2011, and in 2016 she was named African Female Artist of the Year (Non-Nigerian) at the Nigeria Entertainment Awards.
10.
Kuami Eugene
Kuami Eugene wasn’t rejected outright, but he didn’t win either. He was on the fifth season of MTN Hitmaker in 2016 and finished as second runner-up. Nobody remembers who won that season, but everybody knows Kuami Eugene.
11. Antoine Semenyo
Before he became one of the Black Stars’ most important players, Arsenal, Tottenham, Crystal Palace, and Millwall turned him down as a youngster, and he stepped away from football for a year before returning to an academy. He signed his first professional contract with Bristol City at 18, made his Ghana debut in 2022 and played at the World Cup in Qatar. He then moved to Bournemouth, and in January joined Manchester City for £65 million, where he scored the winning goal in the FA Cup final against Chelsea.
