It is funny how a city starts humming when a reality show is about to crown its winner. Delhi felt a little like it was holding its breath on the eve of the Bigg Boss 19 finale, the air thick with chai steam, winter dust and the quiet thrill of maybe witnessing someone’s life flip overnight. Everywhere you looked, there she was. Tanya Mittal, staring down from those giant vote-appeal screens splashed across what, seventy five metro stations.
That number still sounds unreal. You do not get that kind of rollout unless people feel something when they watch you, even if that something is complicated.
I kept thinking about the commuters who probably passed her face ten times between home and work. Some must have smiled, some rolled their eyes, and a few probably muttered oh god, not her again. But that is the thing about Tanya. She has never been the safe choice. She is the sparkly, chaotic one.
The girl who walked in talking about one hundred fifty bodyguards like it was casual brunch conversation and then doubled down when people raised their brows. The one whose “claims” became a genre of their own, so much so that media outlets are now packaging them as her greatest hits. Iconic one liners, they call them. Which is a polite way of saying: she was entertaining as hell, even when she was unbelievable.
And if we are being honest, that duality is what kept her on the grid all season. Because on paper, her life is fairly grounded. Net worth around two crore, a steady six lakh coming in every month from work and collaborations. She is comfortable but not cruising around in a convoy. Maybe that is why the exaggerations felt almost charming. It was like watching someone try on a larger version of themselves just to see how it fits. Half performance, half wishful thinking, all very human.
Still, the game cares about votes, not vibes. And right now the voting trends have her wobbling in that uneasy bottom zone, with Pranit More sprinting ahead while Tanya, Farrhana and Amaal hover dangerously close to elimination territory. Fans are nervous. You can feel it in the way they are campaigning like political workers, refreshing polls at ungodly hours, convincing relatives and neighbors and maybe their building’s security guard to vote once more, please, just once more.
Inside the house, she has not exactly been universally adored either. Shehbaz Badesha’s exit interview was blunt enough to sting. He called her fake, irritating, the sort of adjectives that latch onto a contestant for weeks. But sometimes that is the irony of Bigg Boss. People who rub others the wrong way often end up imprinting themselves deeper in the audience’s mind. No one remembers the neutral ones. They remember the messy ones, the loud ones, the ones who say things that make hosts raise their eyebrows.
And then came the journey videos. Five finalists, five neatly edited emotional summaries. Tanya’s felt surprisingly tender. The producers stitched her grand claims with the little moments people forget, like her laughing in the kitchen at some odd hour or sulking quietly after a fight. It showed that she was not all glitter and exaggeration. She cracked open sometimes, the way people do when they are stuck under fluorescent lights with strangers for months.
Now she is walking into the finale with this strange cocktail of hype and doubt swirling around her. She has fans devoted enough to light up half the metro network and critics who still cannot decide if she is aspirational or just extra. But she is talked about. That is the thing. She is undeniably talked about. In a show like this, conversation is currency.
Whatever happens on December 7, she has made her mark. Not neatly, not smoothly, but in that messy, loud, memorable way reality TV was built for. She may not lift the trophy. Or maybe she will. Either way, the season will carry her fingerprints. You do not forget the girl who said she had a hundred and fifty bodyguards and then unexpectedly got an entire city to rally around her.
Sometimes that is enough. Sometimes that is the win.
Stay updated with the latest in fashion, lifestyle, and celebrity stories—straight from the world of Debonair. Follow us on Instagram, X (Twitter), Facebook, Youtube, and Linkedin for daily style and culture drops
Zayn blends critical thinking with genuine fandom. Whether it’s decoding OTT series arcs or rating the latest Bollywood blockbuster, he writes with clarity, pop fluency, and a dash of irreverence.
