Himanshi Khurana and Asim Riaz’s Bigg Boss 13 romance ended in December 2023, when both publicly described the split as mutual and acknowledged religious differences between them. Nearly three years later, a podcast appearance has reopened that chapter and triggered a public back-and-forth over what exactly happened during their relationship.
What Himanshi Actually Said
Speaking on Paras Chhabra’s podcast, Himanshi Khurana recently discussed the religious tension she experienced in a past relationship. She did not name Asim Riaz directly, although her remarks were widely understood to refer to him. Himanshi described a period when her former partner would talk to her at length about his faith and encourage her to understand and accept it. But she was careful about the language she used. “Conversion nahi bolungi,” she said — “I wouldn’t call it conversion.”
She explained that he would tell her what he saw as the positive aspects of his religion and hoped she would come to accept it herself, but she ultimately did not want to do so. Elsewhere in the conversation, Himanshi spoke about the internal conflict those discussions created for her and said she began questioning what accepting another faith would mean for her own religious identity. She recalled thinking that she would be betraying the faith she had grown up with.
How the Comments Were Reported
Himanshi’s own wording was cautious. She explicitly said she would not describe the situation as “conversion”. That distinction did not survive intact across all coverage. Several reports characterised the episode as one in which Asim had pressured or asked her to convert to Islam, creating a stronger formulation than the language Himanshi herself used in the podcast. That gap between what she said and how the controversy was subsequently framed appears to have prompted Asim’s response.
Asim Riaz Responds
Asim addressed the controversy on Instagram, denying that he had ever asked anyone to change religion. “I never asked anyone to change their religion. Not once,” he wrote. He accused Himanshi of using religion “as a weapon” and argued that a deeply personal and sensitive subject was being used to generate hostility against him. Asim also criticised Paras Chhabra for hosting the conversation and made personal remarks about his appearance while accusing him of turning other people’s personal lives into podcast content.
Instagram post: https://www.instagram.com/p/DcY2f-moa6i
Asim Makes Further Claims
In a separate post on X, Asim expanded the dispute beyond religion. He made a series of personal claims about Himanshi and alleged that she had contacted him months after their breakup seeking reconciliation. Asim said he still had a screenshot of that alleged communication. No such screenshot had been publicly produced alongside the claim at the time of writing, so the allegation remains unverified.
Himanshi’s Response to the Debate
Himanshi had earlier reacted to the online controversy surrounding her podcast remarks by describing it as a “storm in a teacup”. She said she had been speaking about a personal experience rather than attempting to create a larger religious controversy. The Instagram story was later deleted. For now, the core dispute remains one of interpretation. Himanshi says she would not call what happened “conversion”, but has described feeling pressure and conflict over whether she could accept another faith.
Asim, meanwhile, has categorically denied ever asking her to change religion.The distinction between those two positions is precisely what became blurred once the story moved from a podcast conversation into headlines and social media.
