Nach Baliye 9 winners Prince and Yuvika: We had complete trust in our fans

“It was the best anniversary present we could gift each other. The family is ecstatic and the celebrations are still in full flow,” shared Prince and Yuvika in an exclusive chat with indianexpress.com.

Here are excerpts from the conversation:

Did you both expect to win Nach Baliye 9?

Prince: Yes!

Yuvika: (Laughs) We did not want to be overconfident. We did hope and were praying hard but we were actually very nervous.

Which couple, according to you, was a competition?

Prince: Shantanu (Maheshwari) is a great dancer and was tough competition. Also, it’s always fun to compete with dancers. This is not my zone and so to have this level of competition, I had to challenge and push myself. Other than that, Aly Goni and Vishal Aditya Singh are also great friends. We hoped either one among us should win the show.

Prince, you are known to be the reality show king, having won every competition you participated in. Did your fans’ expectations this time act as a pressure?

We had complete trust in our fans and knew they would never leave a chance to make us win. Yes, you have a slight doubt as that day may not be yours. And the competition was also quite tough. But it was really important for me to win this time. I have won three shows, but this was the first I participated with my wife and winning it together is much more special.

How was the experience of working together?

Prince: When we signed up for the show, people told us that it would be really tough. There would be fights, mood swings, but it was a very smooth journey for us. Yes, when we couldn’t sleep much or would be in pain, there were issues, but we handled each other very well.

Yuvika: We actually handled each other quite beautifully. When one was low, the other made all efforts to push them, and that’s how we managed to survive the journey.

What about the dance routines? Who was the better one?

Yuvika: Initially, I was quite confident but I would often forget steps during rehearsals. And Prince would get so happy knowing that he is doing better than me (laughs). I actually got a personal choreographer in Prince, who would be on his toes 24X7. Even when we went to sleep, he would be suggesting and then check on the steps as soon as we woke up. It was quite amazing.

One thing that you learnt about each other through Nach Baliye 9?

Yuvika: That unless a third person doesn’t create issues between us, we are really very happy with each other.

Prince: Yes, and I think when we are together, we can handle any situation.

What has been the most challenging and fun performance?

Prince: Challenging, of course, was the one where Yuvi acted as a special child. When you get into so much acting, it does get difficult to dance. But she was so good in the act. As for the most fun, I think we really enjoyed the gender swap episode, where I got to dance as a woman. And I also have to mention that our semi-finale performance where we were blindfolded had to be the toughest one.

Nach Baliye 9 finale highlights: Prince Narula-Yuvika Chaudhary lift trophy

When Hina Khan came as a guest, she said you guys try to gain sympathy from judges by sharing your issues. What do you have to say about that?

Prince: That question was invalid and must have been put out by a hater on social media. As for sharing our problems, well, I have also been a judge and I look at the contestants like my own. And similarly, we too took the judges as our parents. It was not just us who confided in them and I don’t think we ever told anything that we shouldn’t have.

Yuvika: Also, it was a reality show. The judges also time and again told us that we should be talking and sharing things with them. That’s the only way they would know us better. And what’s the point of being in a reality show when you can’t be real.

Judged by Raveena Tandon and Ahmed Khan, Nach Baliye 9 was hosted by Maniesh Paul and Waluscha D’Souza. It aired on Star Plus.