Vivek Oberoi has often spoken openly about overcoming heartbreaks and enduring emotional struggles before meeting and marrying his wife, Priyanka Alva Oberoi. In a recent interaction, the Saathiya actor shared a deeply personal story about a challenging phase early in his adult life when he lost his childhood sweetheart to cancer.
Speaking to MensXP, Vivek recalled his love story with his “childhood sweetheart” and shared that they started “dating” each other in the early teens. He shared that he had already planned their life but when she was diagnosed with cancer at 17, it left him shaken. “Very early in my life, my childhood sweetheart—she was 12, I was 13, and we were dating. We entered a relationship when I was 18, and she was 17. I thought, ‘This is it. She’s the one.’ I envisioned us going to college together, getting married, and having kids. I had my life planned out in my mind,” he shared.
Vivek recounted how her untimely death left him heartbroken. “I kept trying to call her, but she wasn’t answering. She had mentioned earlier that she wasn’t feeling well, and I thought it was just a cold. When I couldn’t reach her or her family, I called her cousin, who told me she was in the hospital. I rushed there. We had been in a relationship for 5–6 years, and she was the girl of my dreams. Then I found out she was in the final stage of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. It was a complete shock. Despite everything we tried, she passed away within two months. I was broken and shattered.”
He added, “Her death affected me so deeply that, for a long time, I would see her in random people walking by, even though I was there at her cremation. I had closure, but I refused to accept that she was gone. What helped me was working with children battling cancer.” Vivek explained how this painful experience reshaped his outlook on life and relationships and since then, he made it a point to cherish every moment with his loved ones.
In 2010, Vivek married Priyanka Alva. The couple is now parents to two children—Vivaan Veer and Ameya Nirvana—and they currently reside in Dubai.
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