Actress-turned-producer Pooja Bhatt and actress Bebika Dhurve joined YouTuber Abhishek Malhan as the finalists of Bigg Boss OTT 2 after surviving the final nomination task of the season on the Salman Khan-hosted reality show, streaming on JioCinema.

The remaining three contestants — Manisha Rani, Elvish Yadav and Jiya Shankar — are now nominated for a mid-week eviction before the grand finale on August 14.

For the final nomination task of the season, the activity area was converted into a Room of Truth. The six contestants were divided into three pairs — Pooja and Bebika, Abhishek and Jiya, Elvish and Manisha. One member from each team would enter the Room of Truth, sit on a chair kept there and candidly critique the other contestants for approximately 27 minutes. The other team member would be present in the living area and time the session. Whenever they feel 27 minutes are up, they would have to go to the Room of Truth and sound a gong kept there. The team which completes the task within a time frame closest to 27 minutes would emerge victorious.

The first team to compete in the task was Bebika and Pooja. Bebika chose to go into the activity area, while Pooja decided to monitor the time. In the hall, other contestants attempted to distract Pooja. In a heartfelt speech, Bebika described her journey on the show and equations with the rest of the housemates. She surprised Elvish and Abhishek by expressing her desire to have a lifelong friendship with them.

Next it was Jiya and Abhishek’s turn. While Jiya decided to go to the activity area, Abhishek remained in the living room and time her speech. During the task, Bebika left no stone unturned to distract Abhishek, going to the extent of sitting on his lap to embarrass him. On her part, Jiya became emotional speaking about her misunderstandings with Pooja.

The final duo, Elvish and Manisha, had decided to keep track of a blinking red dot on the television screen to time their performance. After Manisha entered the Room of Truth, Pooja playfully teased Elvish in order to distract him.

After the end of the task, Bigg Boss announced that Pooja and Bebika had sounded the gong after 30 minutes. Abhishek and Jiya completed their task in 37 minutes while Elvish and Manisha took 39 minutes to ring the bell. Pooja and Bebika emerged as the winners of the task and secured their position in the grand finale.

Jiya, Elvish and Manisha were automatically nominated for a mid-week eviction. Abhishek was safe in the task since he won the ‘Ticket to Finale’.

Later, Elvish expressed his doubts over the results, claiming he could not have been off by 12 minutes in completing the challenge. He was rebuked by Bigg Boss for casting aspersions on the show. Bigg Boss even offered the option of playing the uncut version of the task for the housemates. However, Elvish declined the offer and apologised for doubting Bigg Boss.