Exclusive! Divyanka Tripathi: May be Arjun Bijlani needed the victory and I need the love coming my way

Divyanka Tripathi/Pic: PR

Divyanka Tripathi who was one of the finalists on Khatron Ke Khiladi 11 has taken off to her hometown Bhopal to spend time with her parents, soon after the finale shoot. Speaking exclusively to mid-day.com, she says although she was disheartened for a few seconds about not winning Khatron Ke Khiladi 11 despite being a finalist, the love coming her way has her on cloud nine. The actress who is spending time with family now, plans to overcome her fear of swimming.

Was it a bit disappointing when Arjun Bijlani won despite you being a top contender?
Sometimes God doesn't give you what you want but gives you what you require at that point in life. May be he needed the victory today and I need the love coming my way. May be I needed recognition for what I always was, but people did not know this adventurous side of me. Honestly, when the winner was announced, yes, I did feel bad. I call my injuries my medals, but I won't say the same about this one. I'm still coming to terms with it because it hurt me. Other than the 5-10 seconds, when the winner was announced, I have not been sad. I feel victorious and it's not just because I'm strong. It's because of the love being showered on me. I'm grateful to my fans, followers, and even complete strangers who come up to me and say I saw you work and respect it. I feel victorious, it's not about the trophy but what the journey has made me. It has given me the strength to get over this disappointment.

How do you plan to spend your little break before you get back to work?
I'm with my family in Bhopal. Viv (husband Vivek Dahiya) is out of town, so I thought it's a good time to spend time with my parents. Especially after Khatron…my dad was pretty upset because he loves me just like all fathers love their daughters. He refused to believe it when I told him I hadn't won. He was heartbroken so my visit is timely. I'm going to spend some quality time with my parents for the next few days.

You have said you enjoy learning new things. Is there anything on your list at the moment?
I was discussing with dad, that I learnt some swimming thanks to Khatron…and he said now you have to learn it fully. So once swimming pools open up, I'm going to begin training and get comfortable with normal swimming and even underwater. I had met with two water related accidents when I was a child and that impacted me. I used to learn swimming and once, my windpipe got choked while diving. I was unable to breathe or speak and was in a terrible condition. Somehow I was able to alert the lifeguard who pull me out and saved my life. Another time, we were on a picnic and someone pushed me in the water and I was unable to save myself. These two incidents impacted me and I stopped learning swimming but now after all these years I faced my fear thanks to Khatron Ke Khiladi 11.

Also Read: Consciously decided I will not take up the role of a daughter-in-law again: Divyanka Tripathi