Ankita Lokhande and her husband, businessman Vicky Jain, have won Smart Jodi, a reality show that revolved around celeb couples. Ankita and Vicky, who got married in December 2021, are thrilled about their victory, especially because through the show, they also learned new things about each other. In an exclusive chat with BT, the actress shares how it was all about spending quality time with her husband on the show, and how Vicky has been her constant strength through life’s ups and downs. Excerpts:

We were offered this show when we just got married in December. Initially, I wasn’t keen because I wanted to spend time at home, but Vicky motivated me by saying, ‘Let’s do it, it will be fun.’ More than participating in the show, for me, it was all about spending time with him since he is in Bilaspur (Chhattisgarh) most of the time and I am in Mumbai. Other couples on the show have been living together for many years, but this was a new beginning for us, and we discovered many things about each other while being a part of the show.

I also learnt that Vicky shares the same competitive spirit like me, and in fact, he is better than me. What helped us win the show is the good communication that we have between us, our physical fitness and the fact that we were honest about what we like and don’t like about each other. I thought Vicky would be camera-shy, but he was a perfect entertainer, lovable and could even outshine me in many ways. He is lucky for me even though I keep telling him that I am lucky for him.

Bhagyashree madam and Himalay sir. They have been married for so many years, but they communicated well and had that competitive spirit to win the trophy. Neil Bhatt-Aishwarya Sharma and Arjun Bijlani-Neha Swami were also good.

Sushant and I broke up in 2016 and I started dating Vicky in 2018. Vicky knew Sushant and I got to know Vicky through our common friend Arjun Bijlani. While I knew Vicky, we were never friends, and it is only in 2018 that we grew close. One day I had called him for some work and the conversation led to discussing each other’s lives and that’s how it all began. In June 2020, Sushant passed away and people started trolling Vicky. They started saying, ‘Ankita was best for Sushant and she should always be with Sushant’. Social media turned abusive towards Vicky telling him to leave me because I was good for Sushant. It is not easy for a man to watch his to-be wife giving interviews on her ex-boyfriend on television and talking about her past. There were different stories emerging everyday and I was right there talking about Sushant all the time. Vicky comes from a very respectable family. I remember they called me and supported me saying, ‘Don’t worry, all will be well’. It was not only tough for Vicky, but my parents, too. Had it been some other guy, he would have quit, but Vicky stood by me and became my strength and told me, ‘Do whatever you think is best for Sushant’ and that’s why I could do my best for Sushant.

Shocking! We were both living in a state of shock and trolls made life even more difficult for us. When Sushant died and I started talking about him, I was in a constant state of confusion whether I was doing the right thing, and Vicky was the one who supported me. Now it looks easy because it is in the past, but at that point, it was not easy. For six months, there were constant stories of my past with Sushant emerging. If I was in Vicky’s position, I would not have been able to see him talking about his past with a woman. I had taken a stand for Sushant and I could do that because Vicky was on my side.

Vicky and I are shifting to a new home in Andheri and I am very excited about it. The apartment is big, so sometimes I wonder what I will do in such a big place. We will soon do a pooja in our new home. After marriage I have realized that life is not just about work, it’s about balancing your personal life with work. Vicky and I are in a long-distance marriage, so it becomes tough especially when you are moving into a new home. Not now, but in the future we will have kids and I want him to be around during that phase of our life. Video calling has made things easier, of course. As of now, his work is in Bilaspur and mine is in Mumbai, so we both can’t relocate. I have stopped going to parties because it’s mostly couples who are there at parties and they keep asking me how it feels with Vicky being away. Now, for every party he can’t travel to Mumbai! I understand his work and I am glad that he understands my profession.

I never said I don’t want to do TV, but I was continuously working for six years when I did Pavitra Rishta. In acting or any profession, I feel there is a level and you have to grow to another level after you do something. I can’t be doing something that I did for six years again and in TV, it seldom happens that you get to do something totally different. However, I feel I am young, talented, energetic and want to explore different roles. I have the patience and I have all the time, so I have turned selective. And now people have just seen me on TV in Smart Jodi. They saw that I could entertain crowds and therefore, I want to explore different things as an actor.

Not now. Currently, my stars are looking good and I am hoping to land more interesting projects. I will also go on my honeymoon soon. Hopefully, we will fly to some beautiful destination in July or August, I think Vicky will surprise me.