Right after he got evicted from Bigg Boss 14, Abhinav Shukla left for Kolad, Maharashtra, to beat the fatigue. “I made a short trip to a friend’s farm. This was a much-needed break. I wanted to swim in the river and unwind in the lap of nature,” he tells us.

The actor, who is now back in Mumbai, says he is still getting used to life after Bigg Boss. “When I was inside, I was only communicating with my housemates, and now, suddenly I’m getting so many calls and messages and there’s so much happening on social media, thoda confuse ho raha hoon (laughs!). But I will adapt to it again anyway,” he says.

The last couple of weeks in the BB house were quite eventful for Abhinav. “Maine socha tha Ruby (Rubina Dilaik) aur main finale mein saath mein stage par honge and Salman sir will be holding our hands. I was a little upset because I was so close to the finale. But I guess it’s okay. The best part is that my fans didn’t vote me out,” he shares.

Abhinav was voted out by his co-contestants’ connections, who are currently in the house. While fans called his eviction unfair, the actor feels it’s a part of the game. “It is what it is, one can’t question the design of the game. You have to play it by the rules. There was a task and somebody had to go. Unfortunately, it was me. It’s a game and people get evicted, no hard feelings,” he says.

Abhinav and Rubina’s (aka Rubinav) relationship became the talk of the town when the latter revealed on the show that their marriage was on the brink of a divorce. Talking about it, he says, “Everything is fine now. There’s no divorce happening. The show made us stronger and strengthened our bond. When we were discussing the show before giving it a nod, I jokingly told Rubina that once you see the fights inside the BB house, you might forget the little fights we had. Jo tab humko badi lagti thi, woh actually bahut choti-choti ladaiyaan thi. During our stay in the house, we realised that we were making a fuss about minor issues. Now, when she comes out of the house, hopefully after the grand finale, we will look into our issues and resolve them.”

He adds, “I haven’t discussed our personal issues with our families yet. But I will talk about it, I am waiting for the right time. They are also very understanding, so there is no issue here.”

Ask him about his current equation with Jasmin Bhasin, and he says, “To cut a long story short, I don’t know Jasmin (pauses), I don’t know her anymore.” What about Rakhi Sawant? “Rakhi is very smart, she knows what she is doing. But whatever happened inside the house, I have left it there. I have no grudges against her, I will try to move on and erase that memory,” he says, adding, “I have made a few good friends — Naina Singh, Rahul Mahajan, Sara Gurpal — inside the house and will be in touch with them.”

Abhinav says that he is overwhelmed by the support he received, during his stint on the show. “Mujhe life mein itna appreciation, pyaar aur support kabhi nahi mila. This is the first time. I wasn’t expecting this, but I am very thankful,” he signs off.