Sriti Jha opens up about quitting Kumkum Bhagya: ‘It was for the well-being of the show, we had to move on’

Sriti Jha left many fans shocked when she, along with her co-star Shabir Ahluwalia, quit their popular show Kumkum Bhagya earlier this year. Sriti and Shabir starred as Pragya Arora and Abhishek Mehra on the show since its premiere in 2014. Sriti, who will be next seen on the reality TV show Khatron Ke Khiladi, recently opened up about her surprise exit and said the decision was taken by keeping the show in mind. Also Read| Sriti Jha: Loving preparing and giving auditions after so long

Sriti told Hindustan Times that she and Shabir had to move on because the show itself needed to move on with its story. After Sriti’s Pragya and Shabir’s Abhi slipped into a coma in a dramatic twist, the show shifted its focus to the next generation which stars Mugdha Chaphekar and Krishna Kaul as main leads.

She said, “The story needed to move on, and it’s moved on beautifully. It was for the well-being of the show but we had to move on because the story had to move on. It’s doing so well and it’s amazing to see that happening because I am very close to the people who are on the show right now and I am in touch with the team and everything. I gained so many friends so there’s no loss out there.”

Sriti is currently in Cape Town, where she is filming for the 12th season of Khatron Ke Khiladi with her 13 celebrity co-contestants and host Rohit Shetty. In promos of the show, she was seen kissing an alligator and walking on a rope with a snake around her neck among other stunts. She said that while picking up an alligator was a new experience for her, slacklining is something she has previously trained herself in.

She said, “Picking up an alligator is not something that I expected to do in life, and to be able to do it without harming the animal was a challenge. Extremely fearful. It was quite bizarre. I have been slacklining for more than a year now. I slackline regularly. So I told the team and the team was incredibly nice and gave me an opportunity to slackline on camera. That’s really really nice of them to make space for my personal source of joy on this show.”

Although Sriti excels in the fitness department, she doesn’t think she has an upper hand over her contestants. She said, “I cannot even explain how much of a lower hand I have if that is a term. I am not very brave, I am afraid of too many things, and I have too many inhibitions. So in that respect, I don’t have an upper hand at all. This is a really bizarre show. It makes you do crazy stuff. There is no way you can prepare for these kinds of things. This is the preparation for the rest of your life I think.”

Apart from Sriti, the show will feature Rubina Dilaik, Pratik Sehajpal, Nishant Bhat, Faisal Sheikh, Shivangi Joshi, Jannat Zubair, Tushar Kalia, Mohit Malik, Erika Packard, Chetna Pande, Kanika Mann, Aneri Vajani, and Rajiv Adatia. The actor described her co-contestants as an ‘amazing set of people’ to be with as she spoke fondly of the time they have been spending together off-the-camera. Sriti noted that while she has already formed a bond with most of them, she has gotten ‘very close’ to Aneri and Nishant.

The actor noted that she has gone to the show to have a good time and adventure, and isn’t particularly aiming to win. She said, “I am not really eyeing the trophy at all. I am looking forward to having fun and doing what I do and now that I am making a connection with this incredible set of 13 people, I just look forward to them having a good day. They are all amazing and it’s fun to see them win everything.”

Sriti was also all praises for the show’s host and mentor– filmmaker Rohit Shetty. She said, “Apart from being a guide and a mentor through this journey, he is also a man with an incredibly naughty sense of humour. So he does not leave out any opportunity to take a dig at any one of us. And when someone does a stunt really well, he actually really feels happy in the heart and feels proud. I really like seeing that. It’s very endearing.”

Khatron Ke Khiladi season 12 will premiere on Colors TV on July 2.