Avantika Malik, ex wife of actor Imran Khan, has opened up about the emotional journey she went through after their separation, personal growth, co-dependency, and motherhood. Speaking on The Healing Circle with Janice Sequeira Avantika she reflected on how she once believed life without Imran was unimaginable.

The Indian Express quoted Avantika Malik as saying “It’s just two people growing apart, it’s not the worst thing in the world. I would feel that if my marriage broke, I would die. I felt that I would not survive one day without this guy. I was convinced that I will die. The day we decided that this is it, I wept like there had been a death in the immediate family. I was petrified, because I was also not earning at that time. I’m aware that I come from a lot of privilege and that I will not be on the road.”

When asked what the separation was like, she elaborated “It wasn’t that structured. We kind of decided to separate for a while before deciding to divorce. There was a fair bit of time… It was also during COVID that all of this happened. The divorce itself took time. My parents are divorced, to begin with, so it wasn’t too difficult to address, or something that made me very uncomfortable. I’ve seen my mom wear it with pride her entire life. It’s not embarrassing to me.”

Avantika also confessed that she felt a lot of guilt for letting her family down “This golden couple and their fall from grace. These two were so in love, and always together, and always happy, they threw in the towel. I felt that I had disappointed everybody in my life. It was very, very, very hard. And it took me a very long time to not carry that responsibility and disappointment.”

Avantika and Imran tied knots in 2011 and have a daughter named Imaara. The couple shares joint custody of the child.