If there's one thing Bigg Boss is known for - apart from the no-holds-barred drama, of course - it is the showrunners' unerring ability to bring together a selection of people who are (what would be a polite way to put it?) decidedly strange.
Nine seasons later, Bigg Boss has given us many contenders for a dedicated Hall of Infamy. Kamaal R Khan, Dolly Bindra, Sambhavna Seth, Imam Siddiqui, - Bigg Boss would not be the same without them. With a season 10 coming up, we're assured of many more.
Here's a lowdown on the strange, stranger, strangest:
Sofia Hayat:
The latest BB alum to hit the headlines for all the strange reasons is model-actress Sofia Hayat. Hayat has been trending on Google ever since it emerged that she had transformed into a nun, going by the name Gaia Mother Sofia. With an "om" tattooed on her forehead, Hayat's Instagram feed is full of cryptic messages about inner beauty. This is when she isn't demonstrating to her followers, the right way to make organic perfumes.
Pooja Misrra
The Twitter feed of this Season 5 contestant, who earlier featured in a song in the 2003 filmDil ka Rishta, is like a rabbit hole you won't be able to stop scrolling through. It's full of allegations against Bollywood actresses, Salman Khan and whoever else happens to be her latest pet peeve. Last heard, the actress was in the midst of a row after CCTV footage emerged of her roughing up the staff at a five-star hotel in the capital.
And now more recently, Misrra has been in the news for filing a case against three people for allegedly gang-raping her in Jaipur.
Rakhi Sawant:
If one was to list down all the bizarre things that the Season 1 contestant has ever done, the paper so used could cover the globe. Before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Rakhi launched a political party 'Rashtriya Aam Party (RAP)' with a green chilli as her election symbol. Her gameplan included dressing like a chilli to make her point. After being defeated in the polls, Rakhi quit from her own party and expressed a desire to join the BJP. Her latest move was to ask for a ban on ceiling fans to protect India's daughters from the perils of suicide, after actor Pratyusha Banerjee took her own life.
Dolly Bindra:
After participating in Bigg Boss Season 4, Bindra became a household name. After the show, she continued to drum up controversy - most famously for her allegations of sexual exploitation against self-styled godwoman Radhe Maa. Previously, she expressed the desire to slap former Bigg Boss housemate, Pakistani actress Veena Malik, for indulging in 'immoral activities'. Bindra was criticised for sharing photos of Pratyusha Banerjee's body on social media, and releasing an audio recording of her conversation with a grieving Soma Banerjee (Pratyusha's mother) immediately after the Balika Vadhu actress' suicide.
Rahul Mahajan:
The Season 2 contestant's ticket to fame was his swayamwar with Dimpy Ganguly on the show Rahul Dulhaniya Le Jayenge on NDTV Imagine. Rahul needed the good press - after a drug overdose scandal following his father Pramod Mahajan's murder, and domestic violence allegations against Rahul by his first wife Shweta, the reality show 'rehabilitated' his image in the public eye to a large extent. Appearances in Nach Baliye and Bigg Boss with Dimpy gave Rahul the tag of "reality entertainer". However, they divorced in 2015.
