The Traitors: Anshula Kapoor Reveals She Was Diagnosed With PTSD After 'Traumatising' Show

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Anshula Kapoor has raised concerns about the mental repercussions of participating in Karan Johar's show.
Entrepreneur Anshula Kapoor has become a fan favourite on the reality OTT show, The Traitors. Hosted by Karan Johar, The Traitors is an Indian adaptation of the globally acclaimed series of the same name. The series features 20 celebrity contestants, including Anshula, who participated in the show for a grand prize. However, the deception and anxiety-inducing environment of the show have caused Anshula to develop mental health issues.
Anshula Kapoor told The Quint, 'Living without communication with the outside world for the entire duration of the show was extremely difficult." She described the show as 'stressful" and 'traumatising". Anshula mentioned that she said yes to the show as she was told it 'would be akin to the original format, but that's not what it ended up being".
She added, 'It was not about filming long hours, but about the conversations and atmosphere of the house… There were no intercoms in our room. They had blacked out our room numbers, so we didn't know our own or anyone else's room number. They had placed wind chimes outside our room door, and if you opened the door when you weren't supposed to, someone would come and tell you not to leave your room."
Anushula revealed she developed major anxiety on the show. She said, 'I had to go back into intensive therapy after the show, and I was diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder." She claimed she did not have PTSD before participating in the show. Anshula mentioned that she isn't the only contestant who is dealing with mental trauma after the show.
Previously, Anshula took to her Instagram to reveal how the production managed to keep secrets during filming. She said, 'There was so much secrecy. We weren't told who our fellow participants would be. When we were flying from Bombay also to shoot for this, I think Elnaz, Ashish ji, Sufi, and Jannat were on my flight. To keep it as secret as possible, even during the check-in process at the airport, we were given different slots. We were given a 'shadow'—our own personal valet."
She further added that the makers ad even divided the 20 participants into two different hotels when they were first staying in. Two days before the filming, they were all sent from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer. 'And this hotel—while we were getting checked in—they literally were like, 'Okay, you'll have your phone for like three hours more, and then tonight somebody's going to come.' Not just phones, all the electronic equipment—they were taking it all. But it was all about isolation, because they didn't want us to form alliances outside the show," she said.
Anshula further said that while each episode of The Traitors is only about an hour long, the contestants were shooting for 16 to 18 hours a day. The Traitors made its grand debut on Prime Video on June 12 at 8 PM. The show released the first three episodes on launch day, and new episodes continued to drop every Thursday at 8 PM. The finale of the show will premiere on July 3. Meanwhile, season 2 of the show has already been confirmed.
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