Bipasha – ‘It was not a kiss’

Pictures of Bips and Ronaldo were splashed across newspapers in Britain and India seemingly showing the duo in a passionate clinch at a Lisbon club.

The duo had earlier met at a star-studded event announcing the Seven Wonders of the World which Bips co-hosted with Hollywood elite Ben Kingsley and Hilary Swank.

Bips, who has had to fend off recent rumours that her relationship with fellow actor John Abraham has hit rock bottom, said she was “horrified” at the buzz surrounding the picture.

“All the joy of that meeting with my favourite footballer has evaporated,” The Times of India quoted the actress as saying.

“For God’s sake, that photograph just cannot be taken seriously! Is that how newspapers define a lip-lock? I’m horrified. Suddenly, because of that photograph, I am internationally famous. But do I want fame at this cost?”

She added: “The photograph is not doctored, obviously somebody clicked us on a cellphone, but we were just dancing in a crowded disco. This is not a kiss! I cannot even say I was drunk and don’t know when and how this happened. Ronaldo had leaned over to say something in my ear, and the camera caught him at that inopportune moment, that’s what this is,”

“I don’t need to explain my behaviour. I’m a free-spirited person. But I’m not footloose. It takes me a long time to become close to anyone. I’m certainly not some giddyheaded teenager who would get so carried away in Ronaldo’s company that I’d kiss him in public. My business manager Tanuja and dress designer Rocky S were present, would I be that dumb? There are far more discreet and private places to do such things. Even if I was single, I would not get carried away at my first meeting with a 22-year-old boy, no matter how big a celebrity he is, to misbehave with him in public.”

Bipasha’s boyfriend John Abraham has meanwhile stayed quiet over the incident.

Only last month he revealed there were no problems in the couple’s relationship.