PCW Khafi Kareem claims she has been given the all-clear to return to work with the Met

NIGERIAN-born Metropolitan Police officer Khafi Kareem has been given the go-ahead to return to work despite defying her superiors and appearing on the Big Brother Nigeria TV show in August where she struck up a relationship with a fellow house mate.

Policewoman Kareem, who just hit 30, was a poster girl for the Metropolitan Police but earlier this year, she took unpaid leave to go to Nigeria and while there, appeared on the reality TV show. In August, PCW Kareem, who works in Lambeth, defied the Metropolitan Police to go on the show and to make matters worse, she  appeared to sleep with fellow contestant with fellow contestant Ekpata Gedoni, 31, while on it.

Last week, she returned to the UK to face possible disciplinary action for defying orders not to appear but she claims that she has been asked to return to work. After a meeting with her superiors arranged to discuss her conduct, PCW Kareem confirmed she will be going back on the beat.

PCW Kareem said: “Work have been really great, we’ve been speaking and communicating, they asked me when I’d be coming back to work. I’m not sure when I’m going to go back yet but I want to get back as soon as possible, as I’m passionate about keeping London safer.”

Following her entry into the Big Brother Nigeria house in June, the Met issued a bruising statement confirming PCW Kareem has asked for permission to appear on the show but was denied and that she had chosen to accept a place in the house without authority. Defending her decision to accept on the place on the show without a final answer from the Met, PCW Kareem said she tried to get an answer out of her bosses but they did not get back to her.

She said: “I started to ask work what is the procedure, what would I do, I thought I might actually get into the show. I wanted to do everything by the book even though I didn’t know if I was in the show or not.

 “I was told to go down different avenues, first the director of communications and then I was being told to ask different people. I spoke to as many people as I was told to, I was told to go to my commander, I explained the situation, I told him I wanted time off - three months off of work and the reason was because I might get on Big Brother.”

Addressing her controversial romp under the sheets with Mr Gedoni, PCW Kareem denies they slept together but confirmed the two are still in a relationship.  She said she attended an audition for the show in Nigeria in February in order to film content for her YouTube blog, A Cup of Khafi, which now has more than 19,000 subscribers.

On her relationship, PCW Kareem added: “We are still together now. I met someone in there and fell in love with him and I hope we will be together for a very long time.”

Khafi has now amassed more than 700,000 followers on Instagram. A friend of hers said she was sorry for the embarrassment caused to the force but hoped that going in the house would show that police officers are real people.