A week after he was eliminated, Abhishek Avasthi returned to Ek Se Badhkar Ek. Reportedly, the judges empathised with Abhishek and felt a brilliant performer like him deserved another chance. That's a fair enough but we hear there's more to it than meets the eye.

A reliable source informs, "The show has got extended by four weeks and thus it wouldn't have lasted that long without addition in participants. Two wild cards were given to the new pairs of Anchal Dwivedi-Aishwarya Nigam and Sanober Kabir-Mussarat Abbas. However, they had to bring one pair back so as to accommodate another week."

Adding further, our source says, "Initially, we were supposed to have only one wild card but with the show doing really well, the channel deemed it fit to extend it by four weeks. All contestants were consulted and only after their consent was it decided to go ahead. All the contestants have signed the extension contract."

While there's no harm in going with popular demand, why was Abhishek given preference? Secondly, why did he get a new partner in Meenal Jain?

A contestant, who didn't wish to be named, provides the answers to the above questions. "Abhishek deserves a second chance primarily because he's an excellent performer. Also, if he's not there then that leaves the show with just one male dancer (Kushal Punjabi). Besides, the Abhishek-Kushal rivalry is considered good for the competition. I've have no issues with Abhishek's return but it would have been fine had they brought back Sumedha too."

Both Abhishek and Sumedha remained unavailable for comment.