Imran Khan Recalls Divorce With Avantika Malik, Says It Made Him 'Healthier': 'Don't Have Shame Around It'

Before he was dating Lekha Washington, Imran Khan was married to Avantika Malik for almost eight years. The two were teenage sweethearts but decided to end their marriage in 2019. Imran and Avantika also have a daughter, Imara, whom they co-parent. In a recent chat, Imran opened up about his divorce and revealed that it was his decision to part ways.

Speaking to We Are Yuvaa, he said, “I don’t have that sense of shame and stigma around it. It was, ultimately, a choice that I made, because I understood that we were in a place where we weren’t enabling and empowering each other to be the strongest and best versions of ourselves.”

He continued, “This can happen in long-term relationships. You start to get into patterns, which may not be the healthiest. And in this case, in order for both of us to thrive, we needed to take a difficult call. It’s not easy; it’s gut-wrenching, heart-wrenching. But ultimately, it has been instrumental in my becoming healthier, stronger. I don’t think there’s anything wrong in people changing the status of their relationship.”

Imran found love again a few years after his divorce. He now lives with his girlfriend, Lekha. The Delhi Belly actor spoke to India Today and recalled reading headlines about his relationship status and feeling ‘surprised’. He said, “There were pictures of us from Ira’s (Khan) wedding also that had come out which I thought were kind of official or direct and better like you can see our faces. Then last week, she posted like the silhouette picture and everyone’s like ‘They are official’, but what about the one without, where you can see our faces? That didn’t count? I was surprised that the headlines came from this and not from that.”

In the same interview, the actor spoke out about his separation from Avantika and said his mental illness affected their marriage. “I’m hesitant to add a lot of fuel to the gossip fire, but as I was dealing with all of this baggage and my internal struggle, I did find that my marriage and my relationship were not helping any of that. In an ideal, healthy dynamic between two people, you are both making each other better, healthier, stronger, and supporting each other to be the healthiest, best, strongest version. We were not in that place,” the actor said.