How Shilpa Sethi Became a Sensation on TikTok and Instagram
Shilpa Sethi
Shilpa Sethi – not to be confused with the reality TV contestant and model Shilpa Shetty – proudly proclaims herself to be the ‘baddest Indian on Instagram’, and with 10 million followers and hundreds of thousands of likes on every post, she may just be right.
The plus-size model was born in New Delhi sometime in the 1990s, with most online sources listing her exact birthday as 9th January 1992. In a 2020 interview with the Daily Mail, Shilpa herself claimed to be 25 years old and detailed her risky plastic surgery journey which led to her getting a botched Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL) and having to undergo several follow-up procedures to correct the damage. An Instagram post reveals that she celebrates her birthday on Women’s Day, meaning that she was born on 8th March 1995.
Plastic Surgery
In her own words, Shilpa had always had a ‘flat’ body and first heard about BBLs when she was 20 years old. Despite her mother warning her against the procedure, Shilpa travelled to Miami and spent almost $10,000 on the surgery of her dreams – but chose her doctor based on what she later learned were false reviews. ‘I had complications immediately after the procedure,’ she shared.
After becoming short of breath and feeling shooting pains in her leg, Shilpa immediately tried to get in touch with the doctor but was unable to. Upon investigating, she discovered the duplicitous nature of the plastic surgery trade as she learned that the doctor in question had bribed his patients with free pain relieving cream in exchange for falsely positive reviews.
Unable to sit down for six months due to her lopsided results, Shilpa traveled to Colombia twice and underwent a J-plasma procedure, which involves reattaching loose skin onto the muscles. For her final cosmetic procedure, she treated herself to a breast augmentation, with all the surgeries adding up to over $60,000.
By then, Shilpa was active on OnlyFans and allegedly earning thousands from the platform. Despite earning a living thanks to her plastic surgery enhancements, she warned others against making the same mistakes, saying: ‘Doctors with fake reviews are literally taking people’s lives. The doctor who did my first surgery killed one girl last year… She had a fat embolism.’
However, if Shilpa’s exaggerated curves and ever-changing features are anything to go by, she has continued to go under the knife with a rhinoplasty and other surgeries.
Social Media
Shilpa has cultivated an impressive fanbase on Instagram and OnlyFans, and although she rarely posts anything about her personal life or family, she doesn’t mind sharing snapshots from her travels with followers. In mid-2023, the Indian model traveled to Mykonos, Greece, and uploaded plenty of content, showing netizens the beautiful hotel she stayed at as well as the local nightspots she visited with friends.
A little-known fact about the adult content creator is that she is a keen cook. Although goat curry is her favorite dish to make, she also specializes in Afghani cuisine thanks to her father being Hindu Afghani and passing down recipes from his home country. The relationship between Shilpa and her father is a grey area, as this was the only time she has ever discussed him; however, she once shared that she can speak a few words in Farsi, his dialect. Shilpa possibly has celiac disease, as many of her dishes are gluten-free.
Apart from food and cooking, Shilpa is also interested in museums and other cultural landmarks which she made sure to visit during a recent trip to Rome. At the beginning of 2023, she also traveled to Dubai and shared a rare makeup-free snap on her Instagram Stories. From riding on a camel to dining at some of the finest restaurants in the areas, the influencer’s Dubai vacation was an unforgettable experience.
Shortly after her Dubai experience, Shilpa returned to India for the first time since 2018, when she moved to the USA. With that said, the OnlyFans star decided not to post any content while in her home country, as she apparently ‘faced some consequences’ after broadcasting her Dubai vacations in real time. ‘Not that I wouldn’t love to meet by followers, but I was there [in India] by myself,’ she explained.
Since her move to the USA, Shilpa has been living in New York City and enjoying an opulent lifestyle thanks to her social media career. In late 2021, the influencer celebrated purchasing her first luxury car, a Mercedes-Benz G Wagon. ‘I don’t like to brag at all I’m just sharing this with you guys cause you guys are my family,’ she gushed, describing the car as her ‘baby’.
Despite her frequent vacations and six-figure-valued vehicle, the model is otherwise frugal and doesn’t like to wear designer clothing or indulge in vices such as alcohol or gambling – in fact, she once claimed to be hungover after drinking just one glass of champagne during her birthday celebrations.
Navigating online hate is one of the downsides of being a public figure, but Shilpa takes the criticism in her stride. After dressing up as Velma from “Scooby-Doo” and posting a risqué video captioned ‘Indian Velma’, the model received an overwhelming amount of negative comments from her countrymen, with one user writing: ‘Remove that Indian word you don’t deserve it’.
Previously, netizens have also accused her of having ‘no self-worth’ and of being ‘a sad woman that has real body issues’. However, it would appear that the main gripe Indians have with Shilpa is her plastic surgery and what they consider to be her erasure of her ethnic features following her rhinoplasty, as you can frequently find sarcastic comments asking if she is really Indian.
Shilpa is currently believed to be single and enjoying the freedom her flexible career allows her. The social media personality’s net worth lies is indeterminate but certainly over $1 million in late-2023, and as she’s living in one of the most expensive cities in the world, she is constantly looking for new ways to build on her internet empire.
