We all vied for Akshay`s attention on `Khatron`: Smita Bansal

New Delhi: She is not an adrenaline junkie, but TV actress Smita Bansal braved all odds to perform tasks in the action-based reality show `Khatron Ke Khiladi` to receive a pat on the back from superstar host Akshay Kumar.

The actress, who was one of the 13 female contestants in the fourth season of the Colors show, couldn`t stop gushing about its hunky anchor. "Akshay is an amazing host. He is so good looking and so fit. I wanted to do well in the tasks just to hear him praise me. We all vied for his attention. He was like a teacher and we were his students," Smita told reporters. One other reason for the actress to take up the show was her five-year-old daughter Stasha. "My daughter loves the show. She wanted to tell all her friends that her mother is part of her favourite show," Smita told reporters. The 34-year-old actress, who has won over the audience as the loving mother-in-law Sumitra in `Balika Vadhu`, said that her daughter does not like her in the daily soap. "She does not watch `Balika Vadhu` because I shower love on `Anandi` (her on screen daughter-in-law) and she just can`t stand it. She does not even watch the show. So I thought of doing something that she enjoys watching on TV," she said. Smita admitted that she was hesitant about participating in `Khatron...` initially but then couldn`t let go of such a chance to get over her fears. "I was initially very reluctant to do the show but then, I also wanted to step out of the monotone of a daily soap. I knew that I would never do anything like this ever in real life so I finally decided to take it up. "I have never even run a kilometer in my life and I am not a sporty person. I am definitely not an adrenaline junkie either and was scared to death while performing the tasks in the show. But still I did it to show my daughter not to be scared of anything," she said. Smita, who became a familiar face on the small screen with soaps like `Amanat`, `Aashirwad` and `Sarhadein`, feels that participating in a show like this will not have any adverse effect on her on-screen image. "Well `Sumitra` has created her own place in the hearts of the audience. Her image will not be affected by anything. In fact people are eagerly waiting to see me in an all new avatar. I will never lose my fan base because of this show," she added. Even though the show boasts of `catty` names like Kashmira Shah and Sambhavna Seth, Smita said that there wasn`t any hostility amongst the contestants. "All the contestants were very motivating and encouraging. It hardly felt like we were in a competition.Everyone was so warm and friendly," she added. PTI