Rakhi Sawant claims her ‘love-lapata’ with Abhinav Shukla was encouraged by Rubina Dilaik to rid him of ‘boring’ tag

Rakhi Sawant said that she began a romantic angle with Abhinav Shukla on Bigg Boss 14 only after getting a go-ahead from him and his wife Rubina Dilaik.

Rakhi Sawant’s advances towards Abhinav Shukla on Bigg Boss 14 were a hot topic of discussion. Many slammed her for crossing the line but others, including host Salman Khan, defending her actions as ‘entertainment’. In an interview after the finale, Rakhi claimed that her ‘love-lapata’ with Abhinav was encouraged by his wife Rubina Dilaik.

Rakhi Sawant said that she began a romantic angle with Abhinav Shukla to make him 'interesting' on Bigg Boss 14.

In one of the Weekend Ka Vaar episodes, Salman asked Abhinav not to ‘overreact’, when he complained about Rakhi’s behaviour. An upset Abhinav said that if her actions were condoned as ‘entertainment’, he would like to walk out of Bigg Boss 14.

Speaking to Telly Talk, Rakhi said, “Saari baatein maine Abhinav ko clear kari thi ki, ‘Sab log aapko boring kehte hai, aapka photo phaadte hai. Main aapko interesting banana chahti hoon, toh chalo, aaj se humara love-lapata shuru hoga.’ Maine Rubina ko bola tha, ‘Dekho, kaise main tumhare husband ko love-lapata karke angle change karti hoon.’ Unhone bola, ‘Please le jao. Do something, at least yeh boring ka tag toh nikle’ (I told Abhinav that everyone is calling him boring, tearing his photographs. I said that I wanted to make him interesting and proposed a romantic angle. I told Rubina that I wanted to change his image with the romance angle. She said, ‘Please take him. Do something, at least get rid of this boring tag’).”

Rakhi said that she started her ‘love angle’ with Abhinav and gave him immunity. She claimed that people started brainwashing Rubina, pointing out that Rakhi’s romance with Abhinav is grabbing more eyeballs than her own, which irked her, as his wife.

During a task, Rubina emptied a bucket of soapy water on Rakhi for calling Abhinav a derogatory term. Rakhi said it was not her fault, adding, “Tumne mujhe chance diya, ki chalo theek hai, love-lapata karo, tabhi toh maine saari hadein paar kari na (I crossed all limits only because you gave me the leeway to start a romantic angle, right)?” she asked, before claiming, “Inn dono ne mera faayda uthaya. Mere saath-saath mein apni TRP paane ke liye ya apna patni ka woh dikhane ke liye, madam ne mere pe pani daala. Phir bhi main khamosh rahi (Both of them took advantage of me For TRPs or to show herself as the protective wife, she threw water on me. Still, I remained silent).”

Rakhi, who entered Bigg Boss 14 during the mid-season finale as a challenger, finished in the top five. She chose to walk out of the show with ₹14 lakh, giving up her spot in the finale.