MTV Roadies Rising: Karan Kundra removed as judge for slapping participant; Nikhil Chinapa to replace TV actor

Here's some shocking news for fans of MTV Roadies Rising, which will hit the television screen from February 25. With just a week remaining for the adventurous reality show to go on air, rumour has it that judge Karan Kundra has been ousted from the show after he slapped a contestant during the auditions. The slap-gate incident had gone viral online.

MTV Roadies new season: Prince Narula and others are back as gang leaders

Now, the buzz is that Nikhil Chinapa has replaced Karan on the show. However, some reports say that Nikhil has stepped into Karan's shoes due to the TV actor's prior commitments and not because he was ousted.

"Nikhil is being roped in to take Karan's place on Roadies Rising due to clash in schedules of the journey shoot and Karan's prior commitments," sources close to the channel told PTI.

"When Karan was on the off-site in Los Angeles with the team, he spoke about having to give the Roadies journey a miss this year due to some other engagements that he had to honour," the source added.

Nikhil, who has judged some seasons of MTV Roadies, will now join as one of the gang leaders of the upcoming season along with Rannvijay Singha, Neha Dhupia and Prince Narula.

Cricketer Harbhajan Singh will bring some twists and turns in the 14th edition of the youth-centric show. "Harbhajan Singh is not a judge on the show. He is our googly, as in he will bring twist and turns in our Roadies journey," Rannvijay said.