Internet calls Zaid Darbar ‘spineless’ after his silence over Kushal Tandon's joke on Gauahar Khan. Watch

Kushal Tandon's comment referencing his ex, Gauahar Khan, during a reality show sparked outrage online, with viewers condemning both him and Zaid Darbar.

Actor Kushal Tandon and choreographer-content creator Zaid Darbar are currently contestants on Kunal Kemmu's reality show, Alliance. A clip from the show's latest episode has surfaced after Kushal made what many viewers interpreted as a tongue-in-cheek reference to his former relationship with Gauahar Khan while chatting with Zaid. The remark did not go down well with social media users, who criticised Kushal and even called Zaid "spineless" for not standing up for his wife.

Kushal Tandon's apparent joke on Gauahar Khan and Zaid Darbar's silence irks internet.

Kushal Tandon and Zaid Darbar face backlash for an apparent joke on Gauahar Khan

While chatting with Mini Mathur in the gym area, Kushal claimed he had scored a big win over Zaid the previous night. When Mini asked him how, Zaid explained that he had asked Kushal for a cigarette because the ones he had were "bekar" (bad). In response, Kushal quipped, "Tujhe saali, saari meri cheezin pasand aati hai" ("You always like my things"), a remark that many viewers believed was a reference to Gauahar Khan, whom Kushal had previously dated.

Mini appeared shocked by the comment, while Arslan Goni, who entered the show as Kushal's alliance partner, asked both Zaid and Kushal not to make such remarks on the show. Responding to him, Kushal said, "It's a joke."

The clip soon surfaced online, with many viewers convinced that the joke was about Gauahar. One social media user wrote, "This is definitely a new kind of low for these men! Comparing the mother of your children to an object. Disgusting!" Another commented, "I think Gauahar's husband was completely wrong. What a spineless man. How can he joke about his own wife like that?" A third wrote, "The way Zaid is talking is more disgusting." Another user commented, "Absolutely disgusting. Girls, stay away from guys like these." Another wrote, "Being a husband, how is he tolerating this?" Many also praised Arslan for calling them out instead of laughing it off as a joke.

Kushal and Gauahar met on Bigg Boss 7 in 2013 and fell in love. However, they broke up in 2014. In 2020, Gauahar got engaged to Zaid, and the couple married in December of the same year. They welcomed their first son, Zehaan, in 2023 and their second son in 2025.

About Alliance

Hosted by Kunal Kemmu, Alliance is a reality game show where loyalties shift overnight, and equations can change without warning. Last week, the show saw two exits. While Vanshaj Singh was eliminated by the alliances, Ravi Kishan took a voluntary exit to return to his duties as a parliamentarian. Replacing them, actor-filmmaker Sohail Khan, influencer Vriddhi Patwa and Agu Stanley Chiedozie joined the game. The show streams on Prime Video from Saturday to Thursday at 12 pm.