Sweet Bobby actress who played Simran Bhogal says she's received abuse

The actress whose face was used to represent catfish scammer Simran Bhogal in Sweet Bobby has shared she's received hate and abuse since appearing in the new Netflix documentary. 

Based on Tortoise Media's podcast of the same name, Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare follows London-based radio presenter Kirat Assi's nearly decade-long ordeal after striking up an online friendship with wealthy doctor Bobby Jandu. 

It was later revealed that Kirat was being catfished by her cousin Simran Bhogal, who masterminded an elaborate scheme including creating over 60 Facebook profiles to keep Kirat entangled in her web of lies. 

Simran does not appear in the documentary and her true likeness is not used; instead, she appears with an actress's face as the profile picture on her Facebook page. At the end of the documentary, viewers are informed that an actress's face has been used to portray Simran.

However, the 21-year-old actress, who appears to be based in the United Kingdom, distanced herself from Simran in a TikTok while revealing how she's been approached by people 'on the street to ask about' Sweet Bobby. 

TikToker @barmzgottalent shared a video of herself dancing to The Ting Tings' hit 'That's Not My Name' as a response to the 'psycho allegations' from viewers who have just finished watching Sweet Bobby. 

Her caption reads: 'People stop me on the street to ask about the new Netflix show Sweet Bobby, so here's my response.

'Are you Simran Bhogal? Yes! Obviously,' she replied, sarcastically. 'Did you catfish your own cousin for 10 years? 

'Yes, I started catfishing when I was 10!' she continued, highlighting how she's much younger than Simran. 

She finished the video with a 'disclaimer' that read: 'This is a joke. I'm not Simran Bhogal but I won't deny the psycho allegations.' 

Her video drew mixed responses from other TikTok users, with several people questioning why she would agree to represent Simran in the first place. 

'How does one sign up for that?' one comment under her TikTok read. 

Another user said: 'I genuinely thought you was [sic] the real person when watching it until the end when it says your [sic] an actor. 

'So imagine the people who switched off half way.' 

Netflix doesn't clarify that Simran doesn't appear in the documentary and has been portrayed by an actress until the end of the movie. 

The streamer added that Simran declined to be interviewed and denied the 'numerous unfounded' and 'damaging' allegations in a statement to Netflix. 

It read: 'This matter involves events that began when she was a schoolgirl. 

'She considers it a private matter and strongly objects to what she describes as numerous unfounded and damaging accusations.'

Several TikTok users defended the actress who played Simran, with one person writing: 'People really didn't go through the end of the doc, huh? 

'Why are they so confused?' 

Another said: 'Girl you are brave for taking the acting job! Protect her at all costs!' 

Others suggested Netflix should have used an AI-generated picture instead of recruiting an actor to portray the woman who catfished Kirat for the better part of a decade. 

'They could have just made a fake face with AI,' one comment read. 'Why did they use a real person? Well at least you got paid for it, and they did make it clear that you were an actress and not the actual Simran.' 

Other than her name, details about Simran's life remain private two years after the podcast was originally released.

Kirat's story first came to light after Tortoise Media released a six-part true-crime podcast about her plight that dates back to 2010. 

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Over the next eight years, the radio presenter from west London became embroiled in a controlling relationship with a man she believed was Bobby Jandu, a respected cardiologist, only for her to discover she was being catfished by her female cousin. 

Simran's alleged scheme was fortified by scores of fake Facebook profiles impersonating friends, family members, and acquaintances known to Simran and Bobby, including his cousins and wife Sanj. 

It was only after Kirat became suspicious of Bobby's increasingly-outlandish reasons for not being able to meet her, including suffering a heart attack, in 2018 that she decided to track him down with the help of a private investigator. 

Simran's alleged campaign of deceit was exposed after Kirat came face-to-face with the real Bobby at his house in Brighton, and realised he had no idea who she was. 

Simran eventually confessed 'it was all me' in a meeting with Kirat at her home on June 11, 2018. 

On Tortoise's podcast, Kirat, now 43, revealed how she 'vomited' and 'passed out' after Simran eventually confessed she had been impersonating Bobby all along. 

'I kept screaming at her' she recalled. '"Why, why did you do this, why would you do this." 

'"Ten years of my life, you've stolen ten years of my life. How could you be so sick. You had every chance to stop.

'"You had a million and one chances to stop. I tried to end the relationship so many times. What did I do to deserve this,'" Kirat, who lost her job during her fake relationship with Bobby, added. 

Simran was not prosecuted for catfishing Kirat because it is not a criminal offence in the UK. 

However, Kirat successfully pursued a civil action against Simran in 2020, when she privately apologised and agreed to an out-of-court financial settlement. 

In the final episode of Tortoise' Sweet Bobby podcast, host Alexi Mostrous reported that Simran 'no longer works in her high-powered job' believed to have been a Vice President role at a bank.