Salman Khan-hosted Bigg Boss Season 20 premiered on September 6. While viewers were excited to see the new lineup of contestants, many were left disappointed as only a handful of popular names from the television and film industry made the cut. The milestone season also struggled to make an impact in its first week, drawing criticism over its contestants and lack of memorable moments. Amid the backlash, Salman gave the housemates a wake-up call and also opened up about the show’s casting process during the season’s first Weekend Ka Vaar.

During his weekend interaction with contestants, Salman addressed the backlash this year’s contestants have received. The Bigg Boss 20 host said, “We had thought we would handpick contestants, but sometimes our selection also falters. Those who are not seen on the show, their defence mechanism is that they are doing so much in the game, but the truth is whatever you are saying or doing is not worthy of airing.”

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Salman then turned his attention to individual contestants, calling them out for failing to live up to their potential. “Aman, you wanted to be the main character energy, right? Then why are you roaming around like a character artiste? You’re just giving passing shots, then why is it everyone else’s fault and not yours? Has anyone thought that it would be their mistake if they didn’t reach a certain stature, instead of blaming the whole world? There are so many beautiful people around the world. Uditi, you have not been brought here because of the way you look. It’s because of your personality. The team was very impressed by you, which is why you are on the show.”

Salman Khan on Bigg Boss’s casting process

Salman Khan also reflected on the show’s casting process and said, “There are 1000s of people whom the Bigg Boss team meets and interviews. From those, you 16 have been chosen. It takes them eight months to lock celebrities from different fields. Like a lot of people know Scout OP in his format, but others will also know him now. Rohed is from Austria; now people will know him. We have picked people from different walks of life. When you guys came here, people asked what kind of casting this was, but after a week, everyone is loving a few characters. Some people managed to change the negative connotation around them in the first week. The rest should also be doing that.”

“Rhiti, at the moment you are like a stone in the house who will soon get covered in moss. Rohed, you came here to win hearts, but I didn’t even see you in 2-3 episodes. You don’t even have a language barrier like Elli AvrRam or Natalia Janozsek had. The tradition of Bigg Boss has been that whoever joins the show is not necessarily a star; they are here for their personality. There is a chance for a lot of people who are not celebrities to come to the Bigg Boss house and show their talent and become a star when they leave the show. From here on, your actual personalities will start showing. I am not here to come and judge you. I will just share my opinions, but I want all of you to grab an opportunity and not just wait for one to come to you,” Salman added.

Bigg Boss 20 features Mahhi Vij, Aasif Khan, Amrapali Dubey, Aman Gandhi, Kanika Mann, Scout OP, Yung DSA, Rohed Khan, Arishfa Khan, Rhiti Tiwari, Isha Rikhi, Uditi Singh, Qazi Touqeer, Love Gill, Mary Kom, and Kushal Tanwar aka Gullu. The latest season streams on JioHotstar every Monday to Sunday at 9 pm and airs on Colors TV at 10:30 pm.