Karan Johar confirms Koffee With Karan Season 9 is the last, rules out cricketers

Karan Johar has confirmed that the ninth season of Koffee With Karan will be the last. He makes the announcement in a new promo for his celebrity chat show and insists he means it: "I'm not acting, I'm not pretending."

The clip plays out as a string of phone calls. One caller says the show should have ended ten years ago. Karan shoots back that he never invited that person in eight seasons and has no plans to start with the ninth. When his mother worries that he has been sacked, he tells her that ending the show was his own decision.

Cricketers will not be on the couch this time. "Cricketers are not invited," Karan says in the promo, adding that they are not coming either.

That line points back to the episode with Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul. Comments made on that episode drew heavy criticism, and both players were suspended afterwards. Last year, on Sania Mirza's podcast, Karan said he had never asked Virat Kohli onto the show. "And now, I am not asking any cricketers after what happened with Hardik (Pandya) and (KL) Rahul," he said.

Karan promises a season without controversy. "Why would I do anything controversial?" he asks at the end of the promo, and then he winks.

Reports say the final season starts streaming on October 14.