Valentine’s Day 2024: It’s that time of year again, when couples show their love and care for their partners with greeting cards, gifts and flowers. But, for those who are single, Valentine’s Day can cause feelings of anxiousness and sadness. However, we have rounded up a number of celebrities from Bollywood (Salman Khan, Tabu and Akshaye Khanna) and Hollywood (Jennifer Aniston and Emma Watson), who have gushed about the benefits of being single.
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‘I do not think single is a bad word’
Speaking in an interview with HT Brunch in 2019, actor Tabu discussed being single, saying, “I do not think single is a bad word. There may have been a stigma attached to being single in the past, but not anymore. Your happiness comes from many things unconnected with the status of your relationship. On your own, you can deal with your aloneness, but with a wrong partner, what could follow would be worse than any kind of loneliness.”
‘I can do whatever’
In a PTI interview in 2014, Salman Khan had said he loves his ‘single status’. The actor had said, “I am not interested in getting married or having a girlfriend. I am loving my single status. In 30 years I must have been single. I am loving it. I am absolutely having a blast. You have no idea how I am feeling… Now that I am single. I can do whatever I can. There is no need to give an explanation, or lie to anyone. Whoever wants to come (in my life) can come.. but don’t expect anything.”
‘I need my time alone’
When asked if he feels the need of a partner, actor Akshaye Khanna told Bombay Times in a 2017 interview, “Not really. I don’t miss it at all. I love the company of someone, but for me, there has to be a cut-off point. I can be in a beautiful, loving and caring relationship, but it can’t be 24×7 and 30 days a month. At the end of the day, I need my time alone. That is something I will never give up and that’s how I want to live my life. It has got nothing to do with being commitment-phobic. I just can’t see how people live without that space. If I do it, it will suffocate me.”
‘I call it being self-partnered’
British actor Emma Watson, in a 2019 interview with British Vogue, shared a new term for being single. She revealed she prefers to call it ‘being self-partnered’, saying, “I never believed the whole ‘I’m happy single’ spiel. I was like, ‘This is totally spiel.’ It took me a long time, but I’m very happy [being single]. I call it being self-partnered.”
‘We are complete with or without a mate’
Actor Jennifer Aniston penned a piece for Huffington Post in 2016, writing: “We are complete with or without a mate, with or without a child… We don’t need to be married or mothers to be complete. We get to determine our own ‘happily ever after’ for ourselves.”