Neha Maheshwri (BOMBAY TIMES; February 2, 2022)

Bigg Boss 15 winner, Tejasswi Prakash, has been drawing mixed reactions over her victory. Several celebrities expressed shock over her lifting the BB trophy and not Pratik Sehajpal. However, instead of focusing on what naysayers have to say, Tejasswi wants to revel in the victory. In a chat, the actress takes us through her journey on the show, her volatile equation with Shamita Shetty and the love of her life, Karan Kundrra. Excerpts:

Being locked up inside the Bigg Boss house for almost four months isn’t easy. After those gruelling months, how does it feel to have emerged the winner?
When I saw the video of my journey on the show, I realised that there were a lot of times when people were strategizing against me. Till the end and even when I was on stage, nobody in the studio wanted me to win. However, Ganpati bappa and my followers had other plans. I will always believe that jiske saath koi nahi hota uske saath khuda hota hai.

Many people felt that Pratik was more deserving to win this season. In fact, many celebs tweeted in his favour. How did you react to that?
I believe that I should trust the format of the show and desh ki janta ka pyaar that I am receiving. It doesn’t look fake to me. It is evident that I got more votes. Those doubting this season’s result should cry foul over the previous seasons’ results, too. Also, why should I expect anyone to appreciate my victory? My family and I should be happy that I won and my fans should be happy that their hard work paid off. Why should my haters be happy that I won? My haters will obviously be sad about my victory. They have the right to be sad. Not everyone is going to love me and I’m fine with that. I am not an ice cream…I am human.

Many even felt that you were made the winner as you also bagged the show Naagin on the same channel…
No offence to anyone, but I think I was offered Naagin because I was doing a good job on BB. I would have been offered Naagin even if I hadn’t won BB. Meri jeet meri jeet hai, mujhe Naagin mila hai isliye mujhe jitaaya nahi hai. That’s not how it works. Nothing can take away from my win on BB. Why it is so difficult for people to believe that there is a person who can bag a show like Naagin and can also be a brilliant player? People saw me as a strong contender inside the house from the beginning.

After the grand finale, Karan Kundrra took to Twitter and wrote that he had lost faith in a lot of things but hopefully, not in himself. So, what was he referring to?
I wanted the final moment of lifting the trophy to be between Karan and me. It would have been the best moment. So, it (Karan coming third) was a shock because he had a beautiful journey on the show. Not that Pratik didn’t play well. Karan was always sure that if it was between him and me, I was going to win. So, he is obviously very happy that trophy finally ghar hi aayi. Having said that, it is Karan Kundrra and he is a lot more than just that last moment we missed out on.

Your equation with housemate Shamita Shetty was often a topic of discussion outside the house. However, there was quite an uproar both inside and outside the house after you age-shamed her saying, 'Lo aunty chadh gayi us pe bhi'...
I didn’t call her aunty... it was more like slang. Why would I do that to another woman? She doesn’t even look like an aunty. She is so hot. I don’t know about the boys, but I checked her out. I would take tips from her on diet and workout regime. I have had a beautiful journey inside the house and people were never able to find anything against me. I made one slight mistake in the last week and people want to keep highlighting it. I did apologize to Shamita multiple times. I don’t know what else is expected from me. A lot of shaming was done by people on the OTT version of the reality show. But I don’t wish to bring that up or talk about it. I want to talk about how good a fight I gave on the show while everybody else is busy finding flaws in me. I should be busy finding good things in myself.

You were also slammed for being insecure and overly possessive about Karan. Are you actually that possessive about him?
I am very possessive and I am proud of it. In fact, Karan and I are shamelessly possessive. I am sure that Karan will agree. We don’t have an issue with it nor should anybody else.

While love was blossoming between Karan and you inside the house, many people called it fake, especially after rumours of you dating Krish Khedekar came up. Karan, too, was said to be in a relationship with his web series co-actor Yogita Bihani...
Oh God, Krish is not my boyfriend and neither is Yogita Karan’s girlfriend. She is a very sweet girl. Krish and I are family friends and have known each other since childhood.

Time and again on the show, Karan mentioned that he would settle down by March this year. So, is marriage on cards for the two of you?
It’s not his plan. A pandit told him something. I don’t know what the scene is, but I always took it as a joke. We have just come out of the house, and there is so much to talk about.