Nadia Khan opens up on divorce

In a candid and emotionally charged appearance on Sajid Hasan’s talk show, actor and host Nadia Khan dove into the deeply personal topic of her divorce, shedding light on her decade-long struggle to salvage a marriage that she knew was a mistake from the outset.

Nadia, once hailed as the queen of Pakistani morning shows, has recently transitioned into acting while maintaining her presence in the entertainment industry. Reflecting on her tumultuous past, she revealed, “A lot of my friends have been divorced. When my friends would discuss their marriages with me, I would ask them, ‘Is he a good father? If yes, then bear it.’ When I’d hear a bad father, I would say leave your husband.”

As per the celeb, the fault was a fundamental incompatibility that plagued her relationship, despite her initial hopes for a successful union. Opening up about her former marriage, Nadia acknowledged, “We were two very nice people but our temperaments never matched. We were both very different.”

Addressing the inevitable question of why she didn’t leave sooner, she remarked, “People ask that if a marriage wasn’t working from day one, why didn’t you leave earlier? I say that leaving someone is very easy. Give us credit that we tried to make it work for so long.”

While societal stigma around divorce makes most women reluctant to go down this route, Nadia was also weighed down by inner turmoil. She confessed, “A part of me is so old-fashioned. Forget all the exposure I have had, but a part of me is so conservative because I was born and grew up in a certain environment. I cannot leave that behind. This is why I spent 10 years in my first marriage.”

Nadia further elaborated, “I knew that this marriage was a mistake within the first 10 minutes. I still spent 10 years because I couldn’t rid myself of the whole ‘divorce’ stigma. I gave it everything to make it work.” Despite her early realisation, she committed to making her marriage work.

“My friends are witnesses to this that I just knew that the marriage was a mistake. That it was unfair to both of us… I am very stubborn. I had entered a commitment and I was bent on seeing it through to the end,” she explained, highlighting how she continued to honour her vows.

For the Pehchaan actor, it was more important to stick to marrying the man of her choice with dignity than ensuring her own happiness. However, honouring the commitment did not make the journey easier. “The most painful part of this ordeal was that my parents distanced themselves from me… I never told my parents that I was unhappy,” Nadia revealed.

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