"The person whom I had a relationship with was not my friend."
Following her Lock Upp exit, Mandana Karimi has broken her silence on her secret lover.
Whilst on the show, the Iranian actress and model revealed that she was in a secret relationship with a well-known filmmaker whilst going through divorce proceedings with ex-husband Gaurav Gupta.
They had planned to have a child together but when Mandana became pregnant, he changed his mind and convinced her to have an abortion.
Mandana revealed that she ended up going through with the abortion.
Following her revelation, many wondered who the filmmaker was.
Some believed her secret lover was Anurag Kashyap, with one person pointing out that in 2020, Mandana had thanked Anurag for helping her when she had no work.
As a result, the user speculated that they soon had a relationship.
Now, Mandana Karimi has broken her silence on the filmmaker’s identity.
Speaking to ETimes, Mandana said: “Yes, I had a secret which I shared on the show, exclusively.
“The format of the show required me to share one. I didn’t become an actress yesterday.
“I understand that an actress’ life becomes a public story as her personal life dominates in the media.
“The words get twisted while writing and I have taken everything – drama and headlines – with a pinch of salt.
“And I don’t know how people have come up with some names. How can people play with names?
“That’s the sad reality of social media and news. The person whom I had a relationship with was not my friend.”
She went on to state that the filmmaker was not Anurag Kashyap.
She continued: “I definitely want to add here that it’s not the name that’s going around, which is Anurag Kashyap.
“Anurag was my friend and we are still friends.
“I have seen the headlines. It’s not done. It’s very unethical and unfortunate.”
“I want to repeat again here, it’s a sad state of news and headlines – picking names, putting words into people’s mouths.”
Speaking about her marriage and relationships in general, Mandana said:
“It’s not that if one has a failed marriage and a failed relationship, he/she cannot find love again. Such things only make you stronger.
“Please get inspired by what I say. See the bigger picture. I have come from Iran, done TV and movies both and am still standing tall.”
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