Rahul Vaidya may have ended up as the second runner-up (right after Abhijeet Sawant and Amit Sana) on Season 1 of Indian Idol more than a decade-and-a-half ago, but his popularity has had long legs. Since then, the 33-year-old singer has sung in films, released quite a few albums and singles and participated in a few reality shows. Last weekend, Rahul entered the Bigg Boss house as a contestant in its 14th season. A chat with Rahul just before he walked into Bigg Boss.

Your name’s been doing the rounds for Bigg Boss, for this season as well as for previous seasons. What made you say ‘yes’ this time around?

Yes, I had been approached earlier also. But usually, the months between October and February are a very busy time for any singer or performer because of the ground events that we do, be it community functions, Durga Puja, weddings or corporate shows. I am one of the busiest performers around, to put it humbly. I do about 100-125 shows a year.

But this year, with Covid-19, there are no ground events happening, everything is cancelled. And I thought that this was perhaps the best time to accept that long-pending offer from Bigg Boss.

This has been a tough year for all of us. Why would you choose to go from one lockdown situation to another?

Honestly, I am very comfortable being at home. The lockdown was very chilled out for me because the only thing that I did was play cards with my friends, eat a lot of food and put on a lot of weight. Had I known a little earlier that Bigg Boss was going to happen for me, I wouldn’t have put on so much weight! (Laughs) The lockdown hasn’t been very difficult for me because it’s okay for me to be confined to the house with a handful of people.

Bigg Boss is a breeding ground for negativity. How do you plan to navigate that?

There has definitely been quite a bit of negativity around Bigg Boss. But on this show, I want to try and be someone who will be able to provide some respite and happiness to the viewers through my personality. I will try and be as positive as possible. There’s already been too much negativity in the world this year. Bigg Boss has been the scene for a lot of altercations, which one cannot do away with. I am one of those people who doesn’t unnecessarily get into a fight. However, if something wrong happens in front of my eyes, I will not shy away from raising my voice against it.

For a show that goes on for months — last season, we even witnessed an extension because of its growing popularity — do you think it’s possible for a contestant to go in with a set strategy?

No. Bigg Boss is one place where one cannot have any strategy. You cannot predict any situation... situations will keep on changing and so will the people on the show. To be oneself and just go in without any plan is possibly the best strategy one can have.

Have you had a favourite among the contestants across 14 seasons?

I have never watched Bigg Boss, you know (laughs). But once I got confirmed for this season, I did watch a little bit of last season’s snippets on social media, and I quite enjoyed them.

While on the show, what will you miss the most in the outside world?

Waking up to my mum’s cup of tea every morning and my one biscuit to go with that tea which is my comfort food for the day. I will miss my cellphone for sure.

What is it that you hope to come out of Bigg Boss with?

I think it will give a lot of happiness to my fans because they haven’t seen me on TV for quite sometime now. I am looking at making some new fans through this show, where people will get to see the real side of me and not just the singer.