Bigg Boss 16 contestant Sumbul Touqeer Khan didn’t want to participate in the show

TV actor Sumbul Touqeer Khan never followed or watched Salman Khan’s reality show Bigg Boss until the time when she got an offer to participate in the 16th season of the show. Ahead of her entry inside the Bigg Boss 16 house, Sumbul talked exclusively to Hindustan Times and revealed that she was scared when she watched a few clips after being offered Bigg Boss 16 and even contemplated refusing the offer. (Also read: Bigg Boss: Why Sidnaaz was the most unique couple ever of the show

Sumbul is best known for her work in the popular TV show Imlie in which she played the titular character. She is one of the contestants on Bigg Boss 16 now.

“Actually, I do not have a particular reason. When I got the offer, I asked my father and then when he asked me to watch the previous seasons. I had never followed or watched Bigg Boss. I was like ‘what is happening! what is this?’ I was very scared. I told my dad I won’t do it, but he convinced me that I can do it. Finally I decided to take it up,” Sumbul said. She added that she watched a few clips from Bigg Boss season 13, that featured Shehnaaz Gill and late actor Sidharth Shukla who also won the season.

Talking about the show’s host, Salman, Sumbul said, “I am scared of him as a host because he scolds a lot on weekend episodes and I do not want to be scolded. I want to stay there with love.”

Apart from Imlie, Sumbul was also seen in Anubhav Sinha’s Article 15. Recalling the time she spent with Anubhav and the film’s lead actor Ayushmann Khurrana, she said, “I can’t even express, it was huge for me. I was nervous but Ayushmann talked to me out (of my nervousness). I remember I taught them the flossing dance step as well.”

Sumbul also opened up about lack of work during the lockdown and getting the offer to work for Imlie. “I had no work and was about to break down when I got the offer for Imlie. I even refused when I got first offer. They then asked me to send across a second audition and I even recorded that half-heartedly. When they liked it and called me finally, that is when I realised I must make best of the offer at hand.”

At the age of 17, Sumbul may well be the youngest contestant this year. “I am the youngest Bigg Boss16 contestant. I was never the studious types. You could get anything from me but studies. Even my father was not too strict regarding studies, though he was for dance. I never had the pressure to score 90 or 99% in school.”

She also recalled that when she was in the ninth standard, she ignored studies so much to focus on her dance that her percentage dropped significantly. “In fact all the kids who danced with me, had low percentage. But, there was no stress, papa was not stressed at all. That ways, school life was not tough for me.”