Family Karma's Amrit Kapai Shares an Update on His Relationship with His Grandma After Coming Out
The Family Karma cast member opened up about his journey with his family and boyfriend Nicholas.
In the June 30 episode of Family Karma, Amrit Kapai shared the happy news with his parents and some of his friends that he planned to propose to his boyfriend of nine years, Nicholas. But Amrit knew that before he could pop the question, he needed to first come out to his grandmother, Koshlya, who he lovingly refers to as Nani.
Amrit opened up about his sexuality and his intention to marry his boyfriend to Nani during the episode while surrounded by his parents and uncle. Though Nani was still processing everything, she ultimately showed her love to Amrit and Nicholas and gave her blessing for their marriage.
Amrit previously spoke about how he felt going into that conversation with his grandmother in the June 19 episode of The Daily Dish podcast. "I think my mindset going into the conversation was it’s time. I think I had reached a point where I just didn’t want to lie to her anymore," he said. "I have so much love for her, and I have so much respect for her. Because putting aside that she’s, like, the matriarch of the family, you know, putting aside that she has raised, not only [has] she raised four of her own kids, but she [also] raised six grandchildren. She has just done so much that I just felt like such a douchebag for just constantly keeping her in the dark. And I didn’t want to do that anymore. And I wanted to show her that, like, this is how much you mean to me. I want to be honest about who I am."
He also shared how important it is for the Indian community see these kinds of discussions around coming out. "I’m hoping, like, other Indian parents, other Indian kids, adults are able to see these conversations take place and say, 'OK, I can do it,' you know? 'I have the courage to do it,'" Amrit said.
During Amrit's appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen on June 30, the host praised him and shared how touched he was by the emotional episode (clip above). "I have to tell you, tonight's episode of Family Karma, I think, was one of the most powerful hours of television ever on Bravo," Andy Cohen shared. "I was just in a puddle of tears, along with everyone who was watching."
Andy also called the episode "incredible" on Twitter on June 30, for which Amrit showed his gratitude.
On WWHL, Andy went on to say that he was "so impressed with your entire family," especially Amrit's dad, Suresh. "Andy, he's a superhero. I mean, my mom [Lavina] is Wonder Woman, he's a superhero," Amrit said of watching how his parents handled everything in their conversations with each other on the show. "And just to see their interaction with each other and to see how, you know, it gives you an inside look into their relationship, and I was melting. I was literally melting."
Andy then asked Amrit if his relationship with his grandmother has "evolved today from when you came out then?" "It has. You know, it's always gonna be baby steps. It's always gonna be baby steps," Amrit explained. "You know, I always tell people, for me, it took me, what, 25 years of my life to come to terms with who I am and my sexuality, so I can't expect my mom, my dad, my grandmother, I can't expect them to do it overnight. It's gonna take them a long time as well, and that's OK."
Amrit later showed his appreciation to his parents in a post on Instagram on July 1. "My beautiful parents. They’ve put their dreams for me aside to make room for my own," he captioned a throwback photo of his loved ones. "Thank you, Mom and Dad - the world is way less scary because of you."
The Family Karma cast also showed their support for Amrit and his loved ones on social media, including Bali Chainani, Anisha Ramakrisha, Vishal Parvani, and Monica Vaswani, all of whom said how proud they were of their castmate in Instagram posts, Stories, and comments.
Amrit also thanked everyone for all of the love following the latest episode of Family Karma and his appearance on WWHL. "Finally coming up for air. Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your sweet messages, posts, and wishes. I am reading every single one of them. We are on this rollercoaster life adventure together," Amrit wrote in his Instagram Stories. "And a special thank you to [WWHL] and [Andy] for an incredible night. I didn't think it would happen in this lifetime, but last night, I felt like the prom king."
As for his future with Nicholas, Amrit addressed whether we'll see him propose to Nicholas this season of Family Karma during the WWHL After Show: "You gotta stay tuned."
Watch Amrit talk more about Pride and being a part of the LGBTQIA+ community with Bravo's Top Chef alum Karen Akunowicz and Million Dollar Listing New York's Tyler Whitman in the latest installment of Amplify Our Voices, below.
Want more Family Karma? New episodes air every Wednesday at 9/8c.
