JAY UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT

Doubts have been cast on the authenticity of the spiritual guru's backstory COMPILED 

- NICI DE WET

SOCIAL media influencer, bestselling author, life coach, inspiration to the likes of Michelle Obama, Will Smith and J Lo, over whose wedding to Ben Affleck he officiated. For many, Jay Shetty needs little introduction. The charismatic British-Indian guru with the penetrating grey-green eyes has millions of fans who take his self-help lessons as gospel and hang on to every word he writes or speaks.

His brand of inspiration and motivation has turned him into a multimillionaire, earned him an astounding following on social media and seen him win numerous health and wellness awards.

His website heralds his talent for "making purpose and ancient wisdom not only relatable but also practical and easily accessible". Forbes magazine described him as a game-changer for his On Purpose podcast, which helped fuel the popularity of podcasts.

But Jay has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons lately. An investigation by UK newspaper The Guardian says the 36-year-old fabricated parts of his past and never lived for three years in India as a Hindu monk, as he's so famously claimed.

Journalist John McDermott says he came across many inconsistencies in Jay's backstory after being commissioned to write about him for Esquire magazine. The religious background Jay regularly shares on his talk shows, advice videos and in books is full of holes, he adds. Jay has based his entire persona on the claim that his life changed at 18 after he attended a talk by a monk named Gauranga Das while he was at business school in London.

It led to him having a major spiritual awakening that saw him skipping his graduation ceremony, trading his suits for robes, shaving his head and heading to an ashram in India.