I Was Told to Cook & Not be Seen Outside: Imran’s Ex-Wife Reham

Reham told Sunday Times that guests in Imran’s home were never fed and he was surviving on “one chapati a day”.

Two weeks after Imran Khan’s second marriage ended in a divorce in just 10 months, his ex wife Reham has spoken out, claiming that she was told that she should be making chapatis in the kitchen and not to be seen outside.

The Pakistani cricket legend-turned-politician and the 42-year-old TV journalist announced their decision to split on October 30 amid reports that Imran objected to her meddling in politics.

“I was told specifically by a senior adviser: they basically wanted me to be in the kitchen, to be cooking chapatis and not to be seen ever again,” Reham told Sunday Times.

She upset Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) early on when a journalist questioned her about problems in her first marriage. Asked in an interview if she had been the victim of domestic abuse, she “didn’t want to lie” and said yes.

“I answered as diplomatically as I could, being a politician’s wife,” she told the paper. But the media storm that followed upset Imran’s party. Imran’s response was silence, she said.

“I was told not to defend myself, to let it die down,” she said. But the “attacks escalated”. Although Imran knew about her past, she thinks it took its toll on him: “I don’t know if he was surprised by it, but he was affected by it.” She said guests to Imran’s home were never fed and Imran was surviving on “one chapati a day”.

Imran was not, she thinks, quite prepared for married bliss.

I tried to talk to him. I’m very talkative and I’m very chatty but, you know, you can’t exactly with Imran Khan. You can’t discuss the colour of the curtains; you can only talk politics. You cannot exactly discuss Bollywood films with him. God knows I tried.

Reham Khan, Imran Khan’s ex-wife