EXPRESSING regret that 2017 has put him under the spotlight for the wrong reasons, actor Kamal Adli plans to “zip up” as far as his private life is concerned.
“Last year was a let down, but I’ve nobody to blame except myself for talking too much and attracting gossip,” he said after the launch of Astro’s new talent search, Gegar Lawak, at Comedy Planet, Great Eastern Mall in Kuala Lumpur recently.
“To make up for that, I’ve resolved to be ‘gossip free’ this year. If anybody asks me about relationships, I’ll just smile and say ‘who told you about this?’”
Last year saw Netizens reading more about his love life and controversies than his acting.
The 31-year-old from Pekan, Pahang, hopes that people would pay greater attention to his films and television work.
Kamal is focusing on bagging another award after winning the Most Prolific Actor category at the Anugerah Telenovela 2017 last month.
“I’m going to work extra hard to prove that I’m a serious actor and strive for a Best Actor award.”
Kamal, who will be launching a health and beauty products business in the middle of the year, has just completed filming Escape, an action-packed adventure in which he co-stars with Elizabeth Tan.
In October last year, Kamal was in the spotlight because his three-year relationship with actress Emma Maembong was strained due to his acquaintance with another actress, Zahirah MacWilson.
He admitted that it was a “hiccup” but things were “on the mend”.
Emma claimed that Kamal and Zahirah were still in contact even after they had completed filming the series Duda Pujaan Dara, and that he had kept their meetings a secret.
It was subsequently reported that Emma and Kamal had broken up, and Zahirah took to Instagram to express her side of the story regarding the matter.
In her social media posts, Zahirah lashed out at Kamal for “dragging her into a messy situation” and told him to focus on his career.