- Dheeraj Dhoopar denied receiving handwritten notes from his wife on Lock Upp 2
- He claimed re-entry of eliminated contestants gave bigger advantage than notes
- Previously eliminated contestants viewed episodes before returning as challengers
Following his eviction from Lock Upp 2, actor Dheeraj Dhoopar has broken his silence on the allegations of cheating. Defending himself, he argued that the return of previously eliminated contestants gave them a bigger advantage than the handwritten notes sent by his wife, Vinny Arora.
At a press conference, Dheeraj clarified that the notes in question never even reached him. Reacting to the allegations, Dheeraj questioned whether the real unfair advantage lay in the intercepted chits or in the re-entry of previously eliminated contestants Harshad Chopda and Yogesh Rawat.
He claimed the duo had watched episodes after leaving the show, understood the contestants' strategies and equations, and then returned as challengers.
"What cheating? The one where two people came back into the game or the cheating that never reached me? What do you call cheating? They were taken out, shown the episodes, understood what everyone was saying, how everyone was playing, and then brought back into the game as challengers. Isn't that cheating?" Dheeraj said.
Addressing the chit controversy, the actor maintained that he never received any handwritten messages from his wife. He said Vinny's actions were driven purely by concern for his well-being and were not intended to influence the game.
"The cheating never reached me. If I had been in my family's place and Vinny had gone inside after being unwell, I would also have tried to send a message asking if she was okay. She didn't do anything wrong. It was an emotional call, not cheating," he added.
Dheeraj added that the letter contained only enquiries about his health and did not include any information related to the show.
During his stint on Lock Upp 2, the makers accused Dheeraj's family of attempting to send him handwritten notes containing outside information on two occasions. Although the messages were intercepted before reaching him, the incident triggered a controversy and led to a warning from Riteish Deshmukh.
Later, Vinny Arora accepted responsibility for sending the notes, stating that they were written only to check on Dhoopar's health and did not contain any game-related strategy.
Hosted by Farah Khan and Riteish Deshmukh, this reality show features participants including Shivangi Joshi, Harshad Chopda, Shreya Kalra and Shilpa Shinde. The series, which earlier streamed from Saturday to Thursday, will now air every day till the grand finale at 8 PM on Netflix.
