For the first time in three seasons, a contestant has been ‘terminated’ from Bigg Boss Tamil without the process of voting and elimination, after coming under fire for a controversial comment he made last month.
Actor Saravanan, who is known for roles in films like Paruthiveeran, faced a lot of flak after admitting that he ‘groped’ women on buses during his college days. After a clip of his admission and the audience clapping enthusiastically to his comments went viral on social media, Saravanan was asked to apologise on the show by Bigg Boss. Singer Chinmayi Sripada was among the first to share the clip, appalled that such an incident could be telecast on television.
Even though Saravanan apologised and stated that he wasn’t “the same man anymore” it appears that Vijay TV and Bigg Boss Tamil host Kamal Haasan have come under a lot of pressure to take some kind of action over the incident.
On Monday’s episode, one that came after the elimination of housemate Reshma, Saravanan was suddenly summoned into the confession room.
Bigg Boss told the actor, “The team could not pay much attention to your comments on national television because we were focusing on the issue between Meera and Cheran (wherein the former accused the director of manhandling her). Even though you apologised for your statement, we can’t take this lightly. Crores of families across the world are watching the program, and we wish to condemn the incident. So you cannot continue on the show and are evicted.”
There was no foreshadowing towards this elimination, and left viewers quite shocked and surprised. It is assumed that host Kamal Haasan, who came under criticism for normalising Saravanan’s comments and not taking a stand, is behind the move by Vijay Television.
With a number of housemates eliminated by now, there is talk of several celebrities making a wildcard entry into the Bigg Boss Tamil house, but nothing official has been confirmed yet.