After two months of knowing and understanding all the contestants, Mika Singh finally chose actress Akanksha Puri as his future wife in the finale episode of the reality show Swayamvar: Mika Di Vohti. But this has annoyed viewers who feel it was all pre-planned.

Akanksha entered the show as a wild card contestant just a couple of weeks ago. She said that Mika and she have been friends for 12-13 years, and seeing him with other women apparently made her realize that she did not want to lose him. Hence, she herself approached the channel and managed to come in as a wild-card entry.

But the audience is not willing to buy this, and believe all of this was planned in advance. Social media users, too, have criticized the show and Mika, calling it fake. Karan Nair, a former corporate official, who followed the show, says, “These reality shows should stop fooling the audience! In this case, they tried to build other contestants and eventually brought someone he was already close to. Mika and Akanksha may have been a couple already. There were rumors linking them last year.”

Some feel they may be just friends and planned this together before the show. “Now they may pretend to date for a while and then split, stating compatibility issues. Whatever happens from here on, the fact is that it is not organic,” says Ishita Bhandari, a media professional.

Reality shows have often come under the scanner and more so, marriage-based shows. In the past, actors Mallika Sherawat, Rakhi Sawant and Ratan Rajput have had similar swayamvars on television. In all these cases, they chose their partner on the show, and a few months later, parted ways. Only Rahul Mahajan tied the knot with Dimpy Ganguly, but the marriage ended four years later. Voicing the general public sentiment, Shruti Desai, a homemaker, says, “There’s nothing very real about some reality shows anymore and viewers are realizing that.”

Meanwhile, post the finale, Akanksha and Mika were spotted on a dinner date on Monday night. Akanksha, who has acted in films and TV shows, was in the news during Bigg Boss 13, which had her former boyfriend Paras Chhabra as one of the contestants. In the last two years, there have been constant rumors of her participating in Bigg Boss, but that hasn’t happened yet.

Akanksha Puri says she is in a happy space and is looking forward to a new phase in her life. She shares, “I have known Mika for more than 13 years now. We have known each other through common friends. He has come to my hometown, Indore, many times and over the years our friendship has only been stronger. Now, that he has chosen me, I would like to take some more time to know him, but yes, we are looking forward to spending our lives together.”

On the allegations that her win was planned, Akanksha says, “I have been getting these messages since morning, but all I can say is that, it’s not true! My entry in the show was not planned. In fact, he was surprised when he saw me as a wild-card contestant. Mika and I have been friends, but we haven’t dated or romanced each other. Marriage is a big decision, so one has to think a lot before taking the decision. You can’t get married just after completing some tasks on a show. So, I am looking forward to spending quality time with Mika and getting to know him better.”

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