Apologising to your wife after an illicit affair, telling your boyfriend off because he kissed you in public or discussing family feuds are hardly things that one would expect you to chat about with the rest of the world. They seem like fairly private moments but today's celebrities seem to be on a revelation spree on national television.

Last week, David Letterman apologised to his wife and colleagues about his numerous sexual affairs with his staff. The episode had a record breaking 4.8 million Americans glued to their television screens. Closer home, the entire country couldn't stop talking about Yusuf Hussain’s sex quirks that he so openly admitted to on Sach Ka Saamna.

Whatever happened to not washing one's dirty linen in public? What is it about the large reach that television has that pushes people to discuss their personal life in front of lakhs of viewers?

Many feel that it's better to be honest right away rather than have gossip columnists come up with their own versions. It took a while for Mika to talk about his kissing controversy with Rakhi Sawant, but he finally decided to come out in the open and discuss all the details on camera in the show Iss Jungle Se Mujhe Bachao. “Once you're a celebrity, small of big, nothing remains personal in any case. So these people might as well try to make some money out of the situation,” says Shailja Kejriwal, EVP Content NDTV Imagine.

It’s not just sad news or personal revelations but even the professing of love that seems to have caught on. Television actor Gurmeet Choudhary proposed marriage to his girlfriend Debina Bonnerjee on camera during the shoot of Pati Patni or Woh. “These are sort of things that you want to get on rooftops and scream about,” says the excited actor, “Debina always wanted a marriage proposal that would be public so I was hoping this would totally floor her.” Television is great for people who want to publicise every single aspect of their life. “If the actors don’t mind and the audience enjoys it, then why not?” says Choudhary.

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