Socialite and businesswoman Risper Faith has candidly revealed the extent to which she faked a luxurious lifestyle on social media during her rise to fame. Speaking in a recent interview with Dr. Ofweneke, the former reality TV star explained that projecting an image of wealth was a necessary tactic to thrive in the competitive influencer industry.

Risper, who first gained prominence as a standout personality on the reality show Nairobi Diaries, admitted she felt immense pressure to maintain a polished, affluent persona both online and offline.

“Mi nilikua na fake sana, by the way. Kama for instance, I didn’t have a car but nilikua naenda Eastleigh to buy lighter ya Mercedes Benz,” she confessed. This detailed revelation meant she bought a Mercedes-Benz branded key holder or dummy car key to use as a prop for her Instagram photos, leading fans and brands to believe she owned the high-end vehicle.

She went on to detail the elaborate lengths she went to keep up the illusion. Risper would often take private taxis to reach a glamorous location for a photoshoot or event. However, once the cameras were off or she was out of sight, she would quickly switch to using a matatu (public transport) for the rest of her journey home. This costly and exhausting balancing act was her strategy to appear “rich and successful” while discreetly navigating the actual financial struggles of her early career.

Risper acknowledged that the reality behind the online glamour was significantly different. She struggled with the intense competition in the Kenyan socialite and influencer space, where perception often mattered more than reality. She admitted that in that ecosystem, only those who successfully projected wealth and influence seemed to secure lucrative brand deals and remain relevant.

Exaggerating her lifestyle became a survival tactic—an attempt to stay ahead and keep her name in the headlines. Her confession offers a rare glimpse into the heavy pressure public figures face to maintain an aspirational, yet often unaffordable, standard of living demanded by the digital algorithm.