I won’t give reasons to gossip about my personal life, says Ileana

Ileana D’cruz took off to Australia last year to ring in New Year with family and boyfriend, Andrew Kneebone. An Instagram post by her hinted that she had tied the knot with her Australian boyfriend but till date, she refuses to confirm or deny the development. “The only way to avoid talking about my personal life is by keeping my mouth shut (laughs). Everyone wants to know but it’s something that I don’t want to talk about. It’s there for everyone to see for the past so many years but I’m not willing to sit down and tell you every single detail. I’m just not that sort of a person,” she says.

While she is a fiercely private person, she doesn’t believe in hiding anything either. Her social media accounts are full of Andrew’s photos but she just isn’t comfortable being ‘gossipy’. “Initially, I thought I would wait a while before I spoke about it [the relationship] but then I realised it was better to just not talk about it. It gets very nasty and people like to gossip and that’s fine. But I’m sorry; I’m not going to give you any more reasons to gossip about my personal life. I deserve a little bit of respect and if not me, the other person does. It’s unfair. I’m okay with criticism coming my way but please don’t do it with people who don’t deserve it,” the Baadshaho (2017) actor says.

While gearing up for her next release, Raid co-starring Ajay Devgn, Ileana is clear that family takes priority over work. “I haven’t signed anything next and I’m literally taking it very easy. I’m taking a couple of months off to do some personal stuff. I also want to hang out with my family and spend some time with my mother. My mother has got back to studying after years and I want to be there for her. She is graduating and it’s pretty awesome. Work will always be there but family will always come first for me,” she says.

Initially, I thought I would wait a while before I spoke about it [the relationship] but then I realised it was better to just not talk about it. ILEANA D’CRUZ, ACTOR