Hande Erçel (Sen Çal Kapımı), the biggest supporter of Kerem Bürsin in the midst of controversy

The star of the Turkish soap opera was in the media spotlight after an incident at an awards gala. Now, his partner has come out in his defense.

Kerem Bürsin was involved in controversy at a recent awards gala and his partner Hande Erçel has come out in his defense. The events occurred at a ceremony where he was receiving the Most Admired TV Actor award, held at Yıldız Technical University (Istanbul).

The night went on as normal until it was time to go on stage and receive the award. "Good evening. First of all, thank you very much for giving me this award. It has been a difficult year for all of us, I hope for better times to come," said part of Kerem's speech.

Soon after, while the actor returned to his seat ready to meet the press, the gala host Bay J made an unfortunate comment that did not go unnoticed as he was one of the most famous faces in the country.

"Mr. Kerem is working under very difficult pandemic conditions. You will be surprised, he earned 120,000 Turkish Liras for each episode last year," he said. Visibly upset, Kerem left the scene in a hurry without answering questions from the media waiting for him at the door.

"There is no need to waste time for such a thing and even talk" Kerem himself told reporters a few days later. His co-star Hande Erçel, who accompanied him in this new meeting with the press, assured: "I know very well Kerem the presenter made an unnecessary sentence".

Finally, Bay J apologized via social media. In a video posted on his Instagram account, he claims that it was just a sarcastic joke and he did not want to "break the heart" of the actor: "Dear Kerem, I know very well the difficult conditions in which you are working. You are an intelligent man, you are not someone to take the piss out of. I'm sorry."

Controversies aside, what is obvious is that between Hande Erçel and Kerem Bürsin, protagonists of 'Love is in the air, there is a close relationship of friendship (or something more) and they are fully united in front of and behind the cameras. There are many who point out that the love story of their characters could have gone beyond the screen. Although they neither confirm nor deny such news, their social networks are full of pictures together. "The feeling and the good feeling between them is more than evident".