One of the strongest players of Bigg Boss 15, Karan Kundrra made maximum headlines during his stay in the house. The actor, who finished third on the reality show, was often praised by the viewers for his master gameplay aka Karanneeti.

Reflecting on his game, he tells us, “I wanted to win the show. I was shocked to know that I wasn’t in the top 2. I wanted to be on the stage with Tejasswi (Prakash; BB 15 winner). Even Salman bhai was shocked. He told me, ‘Karan, I think half the country is in shock right now’. Yes, I was a little low initially and lost faith in myself, but I promised my fans that I will bounce back soon. Maine apne har show mein kaha hai that it’s about the journey, not the destination, and I think I had a fantastic journey. I met the most amazing girl on the planet in Bigg Boss, made great friends like Umar (Riaz) and came out with so much love from my fans. I am overwhelmed right now. ”

Karan found love inside the Bigg Boss house. His showmance with Tejasswi Prakash started shortly after the duo entered the house. Talking about how their relationship blossomed on the show, he shares, “To be honest, I don’t know how we fell for each other. In fact, we were discussing this last night, and Tejasswi had no idea, too. Initially, I thought yeh ladki pagal hai, but she is cute, and I was fond of her. I would often find myself staring at her. Then I told myself that I am not here for this, I have to play the game and started ignoring her. She thought I was giving her attitude, and she stopped talking to me. Pata nahi kya chal raha tha, both of us were fighting this feeling (laughs!).”

Karan says, “But everything happened naturally. I told her that I wasn’t ignoring her, I am just a shy person. I confessed my feelings for her on the show, and I am glad I did that.”

He adds, “Tejasswi didn’t have my address or phone number, but as soon as she came out of the house, instead of enjoying her win at home with family, she asked the production people to drop her at my house. Main soo gaya tha, she landed at my house at 5.30 in the morning. It was cute. I am so used to spending all my time with her that now when she is not with me, I start missing her. We are both going bonkers (laughs).”

While many think Tejasswi affected Karan’s game negatively, he thinks otherwise. “I lived the Bigg Boss journey the way I wanted to. If I fell in love, why would it be Tejasswi’s fault? Why are people blaming her for this? She made me stronger, gave me the strength to survive till the end in that madhouse. If she wasn’t there, main give up kar ke nikal gaya hota. She didn’t ruin my game, she was my strength there. I am happy about her victory, and I am proud of her. Tejasswi and I may not be perfect, but I guess we are perfect for each other,” Karan says.

The Yeh Kahan Aa Gaye Hum actor shared a good friendship with Shamita Shetty, but the two grew apart as Tejasswi and Shamita weren’t on talking terms. He says, “Throughout the game, Shamita and I had a lot of respect for each other. We were never the best of friends, but we weren’t enemies either. So our bond will stay the same. Ek jo respect hai Shamita ke liye woh kabhi nahi jayegi. But Tejasswi meri girlfriend hai, main uss ke against bhi nahi jaaunga. If she is wrong somewhere, main usko samajhaunga, but I won’t go against her. I will stand by her.”

Karan rubbed a lot of people the wrong way when he age-shamed Shamita initially. Then again, when he didn’t stand up for her when Tejasswi age-shamed her. He clarifies, “When Neha (Bhasin) entered the show, she told me about the aunty comment. But I couldn’t recall saying it, despite that I went to Shamita and apologized. She accepted my apology, and we were both fine after that. As far as Tejasswi’s comment is concerned, I was the one who asked her to apologize. And she apologized after that. Also, I don’t think Tejasswi wanted to age-shame her, she just casually said, ‘uss par bhi chad gayi aunty’. Shamita mujhse teen saal badi hai, agar Tejasswi usko age-shame kar rahi hai, then she would have called me uncle, too. I don’t think she meant it the way it was perceived.”

During the show, Karan had several major blowups with his Love School shishya Pratik Sehajpal. But he says that he is “super proud” of Pratik. “Pratik and I have done two shows together, and he was one of my favourite contestants. We couldn’t bond well on the show because we are both alphas, and we wanted to do our own thing. But whenever we needed each other, we were there. Deep down, I knew that he will never backstab me. Woh kuch galat karta tha toh I would get affected because he was like my younger brother. And when I saw him standing next to Teja, I was super proud. I am very proud of his game and his journey,” he shares.