Shamita Shetty reveals needed ‘therapy for a year’ after Bigg Boss, says show’s ‘volatile environment’ made her ‘aggressive’ | Bollywood News

Shamita Shetty is among the few celebrities to have participated in Bigg Boss not once, but twice. Her first stint was in 2009, during the season hosted Amitabh Bachchan. However, she had to leave midway to attend her ser Shilpa Shetty’s wedding. Over a decade later, in 2021, Shamita returned to the reality show, this time during the pandemic era when Bigg Boss OTT was introduced on Voot with 24×7 live streaming and interactive voting features.
In a recent candid conversation with Pinkvilla, Shamita revealed the emotional toll the show took on her, admitting that she required therapy after her second participation. “Bigg Boss came into my life during COVID, when a lot of people were sitting at home with no work. So, I wanted to make the best of that opportunity. And circumstances were such that I thought maybe it was better to just get into that house and show the world who I truly was, because I was so fed up of being judged during that phase. And Bigg Boss, that show gave me a lot. In the external world, I feel it also took a big part of me in my internal world. Because yes, it is a show that brings out the best and the worst in you.”
Opening up about the aftermath of the show, she said: “But when I came out of Bigg Boss, gosh, I think I needed therapy for a year because I couldn’t understand what the hell was going on around me, or how to react in the correct manner. See, that’s a very volatile environment you’re in. That’s not how you would react or be in the external world. But you kind of get used to that. For me, I was in that house for about five and a half, probably six months. My reality and fiction were kind of getting merged, intertwined with each other, causing a lot of confusion in my head. I didn’t know how to be. And I think I was attacked so much in that house that even when I came out, I felt like I was constantly sitting with my armour on, waiting to defend myself. Mentally and emotionally, it was very tough for me, when I was in that house, and even after I came out of it. But I’ll still say this: that show did a lot for me in the external world, especially in terms of work.”
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Shetty also revealed how her time inside the house affected her personality: “I also became a little aggressive when I came out. And I think the house did that to me because I was constantly fighting. Imagine, practically every morning, waking up to people screaming at each other over things as small and stupid as toothpaste. It’s not a great environment. It durbs you mentally. It really durbs you.”
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Addressing the common perception that hosts Salman Khan (on TV) and Karan Johar (on OTT) were biased in her favour, Shamita had this to say: “I don’t know what was going on in the outer world. But for me, where I was inside, I didn’t see that. I didn’t see that happening. And if I look back, I can very easily stand up for myself and say, ‘I think I was the most attacked in the house.’ Why can’t we talk about that? I clearly remember, there wasn’t a single day where every new person coming into that house wasn’t attacking me. So, let’s talk about that.”
Shamita participated in Bigg Boss OTT 1 on Voot.  Later that year, she entered Bigg Boss 15 on Colors TV. Notably, she was both the first and the last captain of the season, and remains the only contestant to hold the captaincy twice. She concluded her journey on the show as the third runner-up.