Shark Tank India fame Ashneer Grover says fellow judges did the reality show for being famous

The business reality show Shark Tank India, whose first season ran from December 2021 to February 2022, was one of the most successful reality shows in the recent past with an interesting, unique concept of various entrepreneurs pitching their novel business ideas to the seven 'sharks' aka judges in the show.

Ashneer Grover (former co-founder and managing director at Bharat Pe), Aman Gupta (co-founder and CMO at boAt), Anupam Mittal (founder of People Group which includes Shaadi.com), Ghazal Alagh (co-founder of MamaEarth), Namita Thapar (Executive Director at Emcure Pharmaceuticals), Vineeta Singh (CEO at Sugar Cosmetics) and Peyush Bansal (co-founder at Lenskart) were the seven judges aka 'sharks' in the first season of Shark Tank India.

Now, Ashneer has claimed that all the judges in the show, including himself, participated in the show to get famous. He even added that he was encouraged to take part in the show by his wife Madhuri Jain Grover, who headed the head of controls at his fintech company BharatPe before she was sacked, and later, even Ashneer himself resigned from the establishment.

Talking to the Masters' Union YouTube channel, Ashneer said in Hindi, "I don’t do drugs, I don’t drink, I don’t smoke. But fame has an intoxication. It gives you a high. And it’s something that, so far at least, I can manage, and I like. Lot’s of people will claim that they’re working for the betterment of the nation, and that’s all nonsense."

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Talking about other judges in the show, he stated, "Even if you talk to all the sharks, they’ll make tall claims about different reasons why they did the show. I’ll tell you right now, all the sharks came on the show to get famous. Because they’re all educated, they’ve all started businesses, what is there for self-actualisation? Fame, right? That’s what they all came for. Then say it! Why are you bringing the nation and entrepreneurship into it?".

Though he later added that they shouldn't feel ashamed for chasing fame, as they were all doing it for the right reasons. "You’re not getting famous for the way you look, you’re getting famous because somewhere there is an appreciation for what you’ve done", he concluded.