Shweta Tiwari, the first woman to bag the Bigg Boss title, says people feel she had got sympathy votes for being a single mother, but she never used her daughter to win the show.
Many of Shweta's fellow contestants felt that she kept talking about her daughter on the show and that would have led her to win, but the popular television actress completely refutes such claims.
"I never said it, everyone in the house used to say that Shweta is a single mother and she needs this money. I'm not so weak that I will use my daughter to win. I am capable enough that even if I would have not won this, I would have been able to take good care of her," the 30-year-old told IANS in an interview.
The actress has daughter Palak from her estranged husband Raja Choudhary who had also participated in the season two of Bigg Boss, which was won by Ashutosh Kaushik.
Shweta pipped other finalists - Dolly Bindra, Ashmit Patel and Khali - to bag the top honour and says the win was unexpected.
"I never thought that I could win. I had thought that the top two contestants would be Khaliji and Ashmit because even in the earlier seasons no girl had won. When Ashmit got evicted, both of us were left. Khaliji is an international superstar and there is no comparison to the kind of fan following he has, so I thought that I won't win, I was convinced about that," said Shweta who became a household name after her stint on the long running show Kasautii Zindagii Kay.
"But finally when Salmanbhai announced my name, I was blank for a few minutes. I just couldn't believe it. It's only after few minutes that the feeling sunk in and I realised that I have actually won. It felt great," she added.
The actress won Rs.1 crore after being in the house for 14 weeks.
What does she plan to do with the money?
"To run my house, I earn money and I'll keep doing that but with this money I know that even if I don't work for a little while, my next two years are secure.
"I want to invest the money in a place which will help me in taking care of my daughter's future because I am in a very unpredictable line where you don't know what will happen tomorrow," said Shweta, who gives the credit for her win to Palak.
"I think wherever I am in my profession today, I give entire credit to my daughter. Earlier I used to do small character roles. My daughter was born in October and February I got a call from Balaji and I became Prerna of Kasautii Zindagii Kay. She brought luck for me and this time too," said the doting mother.
When asked who she disliked the most in the house, the actress refrained from taking any names saying: "I am very diplomatic and I don't want to take any names."
Bigg Boss 4 started with 14 contestants, and had two wild card entries in subsequent weeks, with a three-day guest appearance by Hollywood actress Pamela Anderson. The show was full of controversies throughout its run, but entertained the audiences thoroughly.
