Dancer Dilsha Prasannan was crowned the winner of season four of reality show Bigg Boss Malayalam on Sunday night, walking away with a cash prize of 5 million rupees.
Prasannan also makes history by becoming the first female winner of the show broadcast in Kerala, India.
The show is a localised version of the hugely successful Big Brother reality series, which has 20 contestants spend 100 days in a custom-built house shut out from the world, where their every move is watched by a live audience. The "housemates" are then eliminated every week via audience votes with the last one standing declared the winner.
The Malayalam version, hosted by superstar Mohanlal, has the biggest cash prize pool among all other Indian versions.
"I wondered whether I will survive the 100 days on this show. For many days I couldn't make sense of what I wanted to do on the show. But, I decided to just be myself and it wouldn't have been possible without everyone's support," Prasannan said after she was announced the winner.
Last week, the dancer was named as one of six contestants who progressed to the finale, along with influencer Riyas Salim, singer Mohammed Blesslee and actors Lakshmi Priya, Sooraj Thelakkad and Dhanya Mary Varghese.
Prasannan was initially criticised for encouraging the advances of two men on the show — Blesslee and influencer Robin Radhakrishnan, who was evicted after a physical altercation with fellow influencer and finalist Salim. But she soon charmed the audience with her dance moves and personality, eventually garnering the most votes of the season.
At the star-studded finale on Sunday, which featured actor and comedian Suraj Venjaramoodu, as well as dance performances, Blesslee was named the runner-up of the season while all four finalists were evicted one by one.
Filmed in Mumbai, season four of Bigg Boss Malayalam was the first time in two years the show had aired to its conclusion. Last year, the show was interrupted on its 95th day after authorities sealed the set for not complying to Covid-19 regulations. The winner, Manikuttan, was later named virtually as the winner as per audience votes.
In 2020, the show was suspended after 75 days owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.
At the end of Sunday's show, host Mohanlal confirmed he would return to host season five next year.
'Squid Game' being made into non-fatal reality show for Netflix with $4.56m winnings - in pictures
