I was told it could damage my career, reveals Ileana D'Cruz on beau Andrew Kneebone!

Actress Ileana D'Cruz is one of those actresses' who does not shy away from the media regarding her private life. She is in a serious relationship with Andrew Kneebone, a professional photographer.

In an interview with a famous tabloid, the actress got honest about Andrew. When questioned if she was told that her relationship would damage her career, she answered, "I was told it could damage my career. I was told not to talk about it. I remember the first awards show we went to together. I’ve never talked about this. I was very nervous. Barfi was nominated for so many categories and I had to go. I was lucky to have Andrew with me at that time. We were discussing going for it, and I for a second thought about whether we should have separate entries. Then I felt like that was so unfair. Look, when Shahid Kapoor got married, everyone was celebrating and then he had a kid, that was celebrated even more. Why is it such a big deal when it is a woman dating? I was just like I don’t need to tell them a story of how I met this person. All I need to do is tell him that he is my strength and I want him to be there and I want to be holding his hand. I did, and it felt awesome."

When questioned if Andrew found it odd to be on the red carpet and Ileana specified, "It was. He is a very normal person and has a very normal sort of background and not at all associated with this. More than anything, he is a great person. He is someone very special to me. And I don’t want to hide someone like that. I wouldn’t hide my family. So why hide him?"

She further added, "I have been around for so long. I have dated actors in the past. Six years in the south, when I was young, raging hormones call it what you will, we have all been there."

On how it was to date an actor, Ileana disclosed, "For me, it was like a relationship, you know, and I had great moments and bad moments, but I couldn’t deal with the constant association with films. I want to talk about something else. I do not want to bring my work home with me. I want to talk about stuff and life and I want to talk about a garden, I mean, Andrew has a garden back home. He is like, ‘Do you want to grow some basil?’ I say, yes. We talk about stuff and we have a life apart from films. It is a job for me. But everyone makes it out to be like this thing is your entire life. For me, it is just a job. I am going to lose films because of this. (Smiles)".