‘My mental health, marriage suffered because of Roadies’
RWe were asked [to return to the show], but no, I don’t want to. I haven’t seen Roadies ever since I left. It is not ‘that’ Roadies now.
RAGHU RAM, Former judge and executive producer of the show
aghu Ram, former judge and executive producer of Roadies, has opened up about why he exited the reality show in 2014 after appearing on it for 10 seasons.
Sharing how it took a toll on his marital life with actor Sugandha Garg, whom he parted ways with in 2018, the producer-actor said, “Personally, my life was going through a lot of upheaval because of the surrounding craze [for the show]. My marriage was suffering. Ultimately, I got divorced.”
Ram, who worked on the show with his brother, producer-actor Rajiv Lakshman, also spoke about how it took a toll on his “mental and physical health”. “So I stopped, and I’m glad I did. Not one day have I regretted walking away,” he said in an interview to India Today.
This is also why it didn’t matter to him that his departure happened at a time when the show was at its “peak”. He explained, “I was done. I was fed up. I walked away at the peak of it for two reasons. One was because MTV wanted to make the show a certain way, which I did not agree with. They wanted a certain populist kind of angle to it.”
When asked if there was a possibility of him returning to the show, he revealed he was even offered to join. “We were asked, but no, I don’t want to. I haven’t seen Roadies ever since I left. It is not ‘that’ Roadies now,” says Ram, who went on to act in films such as Jhootha Hi Sahi (2010), Tees Maar Khan
(2021) and Keedaa Cola (2023).