DYK Sidharth Shukla won 'World's Best Model' title? Read lesser-known facts about him

Tributes poured in for Sidharth Shukla after his untimely demise at his Mumbai residence on Thursday. The actor had a massive fan following, which was evident through his victory in Bigg Boss 13, and the news left his supporters in shock. From his modeling achievements to personal life, here's a look at some of the lesser-known facts of the Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania star.

Lesser-known facts about Sidharth Shukla

Sidharth was born (December 12, 1980) and brought up in Mumbai. He belonged to an Uttar Pradesh family; his father worked with the Reserve Bank of India, who passed away during his modelling days. He is survived by his mother and two elder sisters. 

He did his education also in the city. He completed his graduation in interior designing. 

Sidharth Shukla was a successful model as he won a 'Word's Best Model' competition in Turkey in 2015, becoming the first Asian to do so. During the early years of his career, he was a runner-up on the Gladrags Manhunt and Megamodel Contest.

He featured in numerous advertisements at the start of his career and one of his breakthroughs was through Ila Arun's music video Resham Ka Rumaal. 

Sidharth started his career in the entertainment industry with the show Babul Ka Aangann Chootey Na in 2008. Jaane Pehchaane Se... Ye Ajnabbi, Love U Zindagi were the shows he starred in before gaining popularity with Balika Vadhu.

Between Balika Vadhu and his victory on Bigg Boss 13, arguably the major events of Sidharth's career, he also hosted Saavdhan India, won Khatron Ke Khiladi 7 and featured in shows like Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 6, India's Got Talent 6 and more.

Among his hobbies were hitting the gym, which was evident through his burly physique. He was into sports from a young age and represented his school at various sports. He also played against AC Milan's U-19 team at the time of his emergence in modelling.

He was said to be a fan of Amitabh Bachchan, and loved the legend's Agneepath as well as other movies like Fast & Furious.

He was always in the news over his personal life and linked to many well-known stars like Rashami Desai, Arti Singh, Shefali Jariwala, Drashti Dhami, Pavitra Punia and Tanishaa Mukerji, However, he always denied those reports.

Before his death, he was linked to his Bigg Boss 13 co-contestant Shehnaaz Gill and was regularly snapped with her, but maintained that they were just friends.

In 2019, he was the most-searched TV star on Google. He also became the ninth-most searched Indians in that year.