Prateik Smita Patil broke his silence over the rumours of being gay in a recent interview with Bollywood Bubble. Prateik shared that people thought he’s a gay, specially after he played a queer character in Cobalt Blue. Prateik mentioned that he used to get a lot of male attention, despite being a straight. 

Prateik Smita Patil said, “Earlier in my 20s, I was getting a lot of male attention. I was getting hit on a lot, it was quite direct in my 20s. Ab toh #MeToo aa gaya hai, log darr gaye hai thode se, phele toh sab khula khula the (After #Metoo came, people got scared. Earlier, it was an open secret. Toh, you have to handle the situation carefully and be very smart about it. I think that it was a lot of gay men who thought I was gay and available.”

“When I did Cobalt Blue back in 2022, people presumed bi toh hoga hi yeh. Gay nahi toh bi toh hoga hi yeh (If he’s not gay, he’s bi for sure). We are living in such times where it’s such a normal thing, it’s okay. Unfortunately, being gay in Bollywood is taboo. Hollywood toh sab ek dusre ko pasand karte hai. They are open and proud about their sexuality,” Prateik added.

Prateik Smita Patil hit the headlines in February after he didn’t invite father Raj Babbar at his wedding to Priya Banerjee. The family dynamics of the Babbar came under intense public scrutiny after Prateik’s step-siblings spoke about it in public. Later, Prateik revealed he has dropped his father’s surname and he has been using his mother’s surname. 

Prateik is the son of veteran actor Raj Babbar and the late actress Smita Patil. After Smita Patil’s untimely death, Raj Babbar remarried Nadira Babbar, and they had two children, Arya Babbar and Juhi Babbar.

Before Priya Banerjee, Prateik was married to Sanya Sagar. They married in 2019 but parted ways in 2023.