The reality show, Bigg Boss, has often witnessed age-shaming with a younger contestant passing comments on an older participant’s age. This time Tejasswi Prakash called Shamita Shetty aunty. During a task, Shamita was asked to give Karan Kundrra a massage and while doing that, Tejasswi pulled Shamita forcefully to stop her. She later commented, “Aunty uspe bhi chad gayi.” She has drawn a lot of flak for this comment.

Kashmera Shah, an ex-contestant and an avid watcher of Bigg Boss, is also furious with Tejasswi for this. She says, “I had been supporting Tejasswi, but after this comment, I stopped. I don’t understand why youngsters these days age-shame people. They should respect them because they have the experience and have worked longer. Like in this case, Shamita is an actress who has worked hard to reach where she has today.”

She further adds, “I feel these girls who are 25 or 27 need to understand that they, too, will reach our age. Today, Shamita is 40 and Tejasswi is 27. But there will be a day when Tejasswi will be 40, and someone who’s 27 will call her aunty. She needs to understand that.”

Kashmera, too, faced age-shaming last season when contestant Nikki Tamboli said, “Apni umar ka lihaaz karo.”

Talking about that incident, Kashmera says, “The day Nikki age-shamed me, I felt there was too much darkness within her. Someone as young as her, who’s trying to make a space in the industry, should know how difficult it is for a woman to make a name for herself. I have done that and there are many actresses who are going strong at the age of 40 and 50. We are working and will keep working till we are 70 or 80. But these youngsters need to understand that and respect our work. At her age, I had already made my name and people still remember me for it. When she commented on my age, I cried because I was shaken up. A woman age-shaming another woman is really heart-breaking for me.”

In Bigg Boss, over the years, age-shaming has become rampant. Sidharth Shukla, Eijaz Khan, Sonali Phogat and Shefali Jariwala were among the other contestants who were also age-shamed on the show.