Though a lot of actors’ names were doing the rounds before the show started, the ongoing Bigg Boss Season 5 surprised everyone by roping in actor Shakti Kapoor with 13 women celebrities as housemates. This was a huge deviation from the original format of the show of seven men and seven women in the previous seasons.

But sources state, the change took place at the very last minute. Apparently, the show was supposed to go ahead with its original format. Since the change was made at the last minute, the producers apparently had to ask the other six guys, who were supposed to be a part of the show, to walk away from the show. Apparently, the producers shelled out a token amount for these six actors to leave the show.

“The six actors apparently were Akashdeep Sehgal, Sumeet Saigal, Amar Upadhyay, Jackie Shroff, cricketer Jonty Rhodes and boxer Mike Tyson. The producers asked them to leave the show and provided them with a token amount, requesting the actors not to reveal the incident to anyone,” says the source.

“Everything was set like the original format of the show. The producers of the show had even finalised seven guys and girls. But at the last moment they came up with this new idea of one guy and 13 girls — retaining Shakti Kapoor and getting six more girls,” the source says. This sudden change was made keeping in mind the TRPs of the channel. The idea they thought would be a welcome change and boost their ratings,” the source further added. Amar has entered the show since contestant Nihita Biswas’s eviction, and speculation is rife that others like Akashdeep and Sumeet Saigal might also enter the house. The actors, when contacted,remained unavailable for comment.