Emotional Neelam Kothari opens up about her divorce from Rishi Sethi for the first time: ‘I was told to change my name, quit non-veg, wear Indian clothes…’

She added, “Ahana came to me and said, ‘Mumma, you never told me you were divorced’. I just died. I was stumped. I had no words. I told Ahana, ‘First of all, how do you know?’ She said, ‘You’re a celebrity, so my friends and I were googling you. The first thing came up was that you were divorced. You were married.'” Neelam said that this isn’t how she wanted her daughter to find out about her first marriage.

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Neelam then disclosed details about her first marriage and what pushed her to seek a divorce. After marrying Rishi Sethia, she relocated to a different country. She shared, “I was told to wear Indian clothes, give up non-veg, and alcohol. I was fine with everything. I was also asked to change my name, and I did that, too. A lot of people do that. But, changing my identity? That is something I was not okay with. I reached a point where I questioned myself, ‘How am I allowing this?’ There were several times when I used to be in a supermarket or out on lunch, and someone would come up to me and ask, ‘Are you Neelam the actress?’ And I had to say, ‘No, I am not Neelam.'”

Neelam cried as she shared her experience with Ekta, who seemed emotional as well. Neelam returned to acting after her divorce. She expressed pride in being part of over 40 films and gratitude in having found Sameer Soni.

Neelam married Rishi Sethia, a UK-based businessman in 2000. However, they got divorced soon after. In 2011, she married Sameer Soni. In 2013, they adopted a daughter, Ahana.