LAGOS, Nigeria(VOICE OF NAIJA)- Reality TV star Queen Mercy Atang has made public the shocking story behind her viral “bread dress” at the 12th edition of the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards, revealing that the outfit left her with a serious back injury despite its creative impact on social media.
At the award ceremony on May 9, Queen Atang made headlines after stepping out in a dramatic gown reportedly made using 500 loaves of bread, an outfit that quickly caught the attention of the Guinness World Records (GWR).
Speaking in an interview with BBC News Pidgin, Atang clarified that she did not design the dress herself, crediting celebrity designer Toyin Lawani and her fashion house, Tiannah Empire, for the concept and execution.
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“First of all, I was not the one who made the dress. Tianah Empire, the king of fashion, made it. It is just for me to get the clothes ready to put on,” she said.
Despite the artistry, Atang revealed that the outfit came with unexpected physical pain due to its extreme weight.
She explained that the dress required weeks of preparation, fittings, and adjustments before it was finally completed.
“She asked me first to come and fit myself with the dress to look for places that need adjustments. It took weeks to get the dress ready,” Atang noted.
Both the fittings and the eventual wearing of the dress which almost “broke her waist” was extremely difficult and physically painful, according to the reality star.
Atang who said that she “cried” after realizing the pain behind the beauty, revealed she is currently treating a visible back injury.
“But for me, the weight of the dress almost broke my waist. If you check my back, I have a serious wound there. Because that bread was very heavy. I literally cried while wearing that dress. I first said I needed to catch my breath. The first few seconds after wearing the dress, I had to take it off and cried a lot. Then later, I told them I was ready to wear it again,” she explained.
Atang also revealed that the bread-themed outfit was originally meant to promote her food business, an idea suggested by her stylist.
She noted that she initially planned to skip the AMVCA entirely, focusing instead on her business goals and preferring a simpler appearance for the event.
“I did not plan on going for this year’s AMVCA before. I had put down some things I wanted to achieve for my business. AMVCA was not in my dictionary this year,” Atang revealed.
However, she said her designer later persuaded her to attend and discouraged a simple outfit choice.
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Despite missing the red carpet due to timing, she insisted on attending physically so the moment would not be dismissed as digital manipulation.
“My designer later urged me to go… I wanted to go to the event physically even after the red carpet had closed. I did not want to post the picture online alone, so people would not say it was AI-generated,” Atang stated.
The reality star concluded that she never expected the outfit to go viral, although she anticipated mixed reactions from the public.
“I did not expect my dress to go viral like this. I expected people would have mixed feelings about it. But I noticed that major news outlets reported it,” she said excitedly.
