4 min readNew DelhiJul 16, 2026 05:00 PM IST
Sonakshi Sinha and Zaheer Iqbal may have spent years denying dating rumours, but Salman Khan had already pieced together the truth long before they admitted it. Looking back at those early days, the couple revealed that Salman not only sensed their romance but also jokingly predicted what would happen if they ever broke up.
Appearing on Neha Dhupia and Angad Bedi’s chat show Double Date, the couple shared how every attempt to dodge questions about their relationship failed because Salman had already figured them out.
Zaheer revealed that there was never a formal confession because Salman had reached the conclusion on his own. “He saw us before we told him. He had already found out,” he said.
Why Sonakshi and Zaheer couldn’t fool Salman
Sonakshi admitted that she and Zaheer kept insisting nothing was going on whenever Salman brought it up, but he refused to believe them.
“There was a full vibe going on and he’s not stupid. He saw us. Whenever he used to ask me, we would deny it and say, ‘Aisa kuch nahi hai (there’s nothing like that).’ Then one day he said, ‘Dekho, ek din tum log ka break-up hoga. Tu yahan se aake royegi, woh wahan se aake royega (one day you two will break up. You’ll come to me crying, and he’ll come to me crying too). I love you both and I don’t want to take sides.’ We were stunned because he had completely figured it out,” she recalled.
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The trekking trip that confirmed Salman’s suspicion
Sonakshi recalled that the moment Salman became completely certain about their relationship came during a trekking trip, when she and Zaheer had a disagreement and were giving each other the silent treatment.
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Zaheer said, “The day he realised that very well, we had gone trekking up. And that’s the day we had some argument. We were like, we are not talking to each other. And suddenly, he has come to me. He said, ‘Don’t do it. I am telling you.’”
How Sonakshi and Zaheer’s love story began
Salman was also the reason their paths crossed in the first place. Sonakshi and Zaheer first met at a party hosted by the superstar and began dating.
Although both were regular faces at Salman Khan’s family gatherings and celebrations, they somehow never met despite attending the same Diwali and Eid parties, birthdays, and other family events. It wasn’t until 2017 that the two finally crossed paths, marking the beginning of a relationship they would keep private for years.
“We had not bumped into each other. Imagine all the Diwali parties. All the Eid parties. All Salman’s birthdays. Sohail bhai’s birthdays. Everything. We would both be there but we never bumped into each other before 2017.”
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They chose to keep their romance away from the public eye for nearly seven years. They even worked together in the 2022 film Double XL without publicly confirming their relationship.
The couple eventually tied the knot on June 23, 2024, in an intimate registered marriage under the Special Marriage Act at Sonakshi’s Mumbai home before celebrating with close friends and family.
Salman Khan’s special connection with the couple
Salman Khan has played an important role in both Sonakshi Sinha and Zaheer Iqbal’s careers. Sonakshi made her Bollywood debut opposite Salman in the 2010 blockbuster Dabangg, while Zaheer was launched by the superstar in the 2019 romantic drama Notebook, which was produced by Salman Khan Films.
On the professional front, Sonakshi was recently seen in Prime Video’s System, co-starring Jyotika and Ashutosh Gowariker. She is next set to return in the second season of Dahaad.
