A little more than a week ago, TV star Rubina Dilaik raced past singer Rahul Vaidya to win the 14th edition of Bigg Boss, hosted by Salman Khan. We caught up with Rubina a few days after the win for a chat.

It’s been a little more than a week since you won Bigg Boss. Has the feeling sunk in yet or does it still feel surreal?

(Laughs) Well, it still feels surreal because I have genuinely not been able to find time to sit in peace and contemplate. Maybe I am going to need a week more to just find that real peace and time.

You were in genuine shock when host Salman Khan announced your name as the winner. What was going on in your mind in the few seconds leading up to your name being called out as the Bigg Boss 14 champ?

(Laughs) To be honest, I was shocked when my name was announced because just before that, I was in an absolutely blank state of mind. I was trying to keep myself aloof from all the distractions and wanted to experience that feeling of being in the moment. That’s how I wanted to be at that time.

Besides the winning moment, if you had to pick the Top 3 moments of your stay in the Bigg Boss house, which would they be?

First, the Valentine’s Day episode in which Abhinav (Shukla, husband and co-contestant) surprised me. The second would be the task ‘Press for Entertainment’ because that’s the first time I got to know that I am able to entertain people and the audience had liked the live session that we had done on the Voot app. Finally, whenever I would read the ‘task file’, it would give me immense, immense happiness.

You were the favourite to win for many weeks, especially towards the end. At what point during the show did you feel that you had the ability to make it?

Trust me, I didn’t ever figure out what was happening outside the Bigg Boss house, what people were thinking of me. But I always wanted to reach the finale... it was a dream.

During one of the episodes, one of the contestants had said that the Top 2 contestants in the finale always had the honour of shutting out the lights of the Bigg Boss house before they walked out of it. I really wanted to do that because I felt that would signify a big part of my journey on Bigg Boss. I wanted to live that experience, and so I always had this little prayer in my heart, ‘I don’t know whether I will be able to win or not, but I want to switch off the lights in the house’.

In hindsight, what do you think worked for you on the show?

I think it would be my authenticity and my power of acceptance that I am who I am, even if I am flawed. That really worked for me. I believe that it is a quality to embrace your flaws and not feel ashamed of your shortcomings.

Many have said that you were at an advantage given that you had your husband Abhinav with you on the show. Would you agree?

Trust me, it’s not an advantage to have your partner with you on a reality show. In fact, it has more disadvantages, especially when your relationship is going through a very fragile period like ours was. At that time, you are constantly thinking, ‘How do I turn things around? Will it affect my relationship? How will my partner feel about this? Should I say this or not?’ It’s like walking on eggshells.

Who are the contestants you would like to keep in touch with outside Bigg Boss?

I would definitely like to keep in touch with Naina (Singh), Shardul (Pandit), Sara (Gurpal), Nikki (Tamboli), Rahul Mahajan and Manu Punjabi. These are the people I felt really connected to in the house.

In the huge amount of feedback that you must have got on social media and off it in the last one week, is there anything anyone said that remains in your memory?

The immense love that I have received and the kind of response I got when I was on the show, and which I am able to see now, is so overwhelming. What really moved me was how my fans made their journey all about my journey on Bigg Boss. I can’t just express how it feels... I feel blessed that I have such people who are with me through thick and thin.

The mother of one of my fans passed away when I was in Bigg Boss. Yet, she continued her support for me and she continued the fan club because it was her mother’s desire to see me win. It’s commendable the amount of faith people put in me and loved me. It’s surreal.

What do you miss the most about being in the Bigg Boss house?

My set routine. As a person, I am very organised. In the house, I had a routine and a ritual that I would follow and I am already missing it.

How are you planning to use this win to take your acting career forward?

I am not looking at designing anything specifically to take my career forward. As an artiste, a good project and reaching out to the audience is important, irrespective of the medium. And I hope I am able to do that.