Bigg Boss 10: Akanksha Sharma, Swami Om, Manoj Punjabi aren't really non-celebrities

The ball has started to roll on Bigg Boss 10 on Colors TV. One of the talking points this season has definitely been the inclusion of non-celebrity contestants. To the seven celebrity contestants in the mix in Bigg Boss 2016 — Karan Mehra, Rohan Mehra, Lopamudra Raut, Gaurav Chopra, Monalisa, Rahul Dev and Bani J — have been added eight ‘common’ folks.

Here’s the thing, however, at least three of those ‘common folk’ aren’t exactly that. One — the self-styled godman Swami Om (who has quickly earned the tag of _Bigg Boss_' 'creepiest contestant ever' ) — was on at least one TV panel. Yes, the one where he spoke in praise of colleague Radhe Maa and slapped fellow panelist, astrologer Deepa Sharma, when their argument escalated. By his own boast, he’s also ‘cured Elizabeth Hurley of backache’. Infamy may not be the same as celebrity, but that certainly doesn’t make Om Swami like the rest of us regular people. Then there’s Akanksha Sharma. Her backstory has already got the young contestant plenty of attention — she’s cricketer Yuvraj Singh’s former sister-in-law. Apparently, her parting from husband Zoravar Singh (Yuvraj’s younger brother) was quite acrimonious and she has accused her mother-in-law for their marital problems. Shabnam Singh addressed these allegations by Akanksha in an interview with Hindustan Times. And a report by The Indian Express points out that Manoj Punjabi (who goes by “Manu”) was among the contestants on The Bachelorette India: Mere Khayalon Ki Mallika in 2013, vying for actress Mallika Sherawat’s “hand”. Priyanka Jagga seems to have modelled sporadically, while Navin Prakash has appeared on at least one Newshour debate, where he’s shown that he has the wonderful ability to shout others down, a trait that should help him in the Bigg Boss house. At present, Nitibha Kaul, Manveer Gujjar and Lokesh Kumari Sharma seem to be the only contestants who can actually claim to be regular people with no connection to the glamour/television/reality show industry. How long that state of affairs will last, is anyone’s guess.