Megha ousted from Perfect Bride

This was Megha Gupta's debut attempt at hosting, but the effort appears to have been short lived. In less than two weeks, the lady who was introduced as Vishal Malhotra's co-host on Star Plus' new reality show Perfect Bride, has apparently been bumped off due to her high-handed attitude. Says a source from the show, “Megha has been throwing tantrums on the show. She would not report to the rehearsals and shoots despite several reminders. Owing to her continuous tantrums and unprofessional attitude, she has been shown the door. Perfect Bride for now will be hosted by Vishal Malhotra only.” Anupama Mandloi, Sr. Creative Director, Star Plus, said, “Things didn’t work out with Megha and she is not on the show any longer.” Refuting all the allegations, the actress says, “I am stunned to hear the channel’s version of the entire episode. In fact, they were the ones who informed me at the last hour that I was not required for the next day's shoot. If I were throwing tantrums and not reporting for the shoot, why would I take the effort to come down to Karjat for media interactions for which I am not even being paid?” Talking about the issues that allegedly cropped up between the channel and her, Gupta informs, “The channel was taking the artists for granted right from the word go. They were already paying me far lesser than they should have, but I just kept going with the flow. Initially, they told me that they would need 10 days from me for the show and so I couldn't take up any other offer as playing the lead in any show means blocking 26 days for its shoot. Later I was told that I would be required for just four days a month which means a salary cut of 60 per cent. I kept working without saying a word. They are telling people that I was replaced after the third episode but let me clarify that there was a gap of about 25 days between the first episode we shot and the second one. It was during the shoot of the second episode for which I was all set to leave early morning to Karjat, when they told me at 11:00 pm the earlier night that I was not required anymore. After all this I would just say that the channel should resort to other measures to garner TRPs rather than tarnishing somebody’s image and resorting to such cheap publicity gimmicks.” Going by the cold response from the viewers and not so exciting TRPs, one certainly can't take it as Megha’s loss.