Shibani Dandekar Akhtar (born 27 August 1980) is an Indian-born Australian singer, actress, host and model. She began her career working as a television host on American television. Following her return to India, she began hosting several shows and events on Hindi television, besides working as a model and singer. She was one of the co-hosts of the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup. She was also a contestant on Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 5 (2012) and Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi 8 (2017).

Early and personal life

Her father Shashidhar Dandekar is a theatre actor in Australia and her mother Sulabha Dandekar works in Qantas Airways, Australia. She has two sisters, Anusha Dandekar, an actress-singer working in Bollywood, and Apeksha Dandekar. Dandekar along with her sisters formed a music band named D-Major. Dandekar grew up in Australia and Africa for the majority of her childhood.Dandekar started dating Bollywood filmmaker and actor Farhan Akhtar in 2018, just after his divorce from Adhuna Bhabani in 2017. On 19 February 2022, they got married in a non-religious ceremony at Farhan's father's farmhouse in Khandala.

Career

In 2001,she was hit by a car then after the incident she moved to New York City and began working in American television. She hosted three nationally syndicated television shows, ''Namaste America'', ''V Desi'' and the ''Asian Variety Show''. In this role, she introduced Bollywood's biggest stars to American audiences and also hosted ''An Evening With Shah Rukh Khan in Atlantic City''. She has been a contestant on ''Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa'', the India-based ''Dancing With the Stars'' on the BBC network and hosted in India on Colors TV. ZoOm's ''Let's Design'', ''India's Sexiest Bachelor'' on Big CBS Prime, as well as its extension ''India's Glam Diva'' on Big CBS Love. Dandekar also anchored the Indian produced ''Grammy Nominees Special'' on VH1 as a lead-up to the 53rd Grammy Awards. Since 2011, she has been co-hosting the show ''Extraa Innings – T20'' on Sony Max Television during the Indian Premier League matches; she won a nomination at the 11th Indian Television Academy Awards in the category Best Anchor Game/Quiz Show. She is hosting the Mission cover shot for National Geography channel. She did a dance number ''Hi Poli Saajuk '' for 2014's Marathi movie ''Timepass'', followed by ''36 Nakhrewali'' in ''Sangharsh''. She played the role 'Zoya' in the movie ''Roy'' which was released on 13 February 2015. In 2017, Shibani participated in Khatron Ke Khiladi 8 and eliminated in the first week at 12th place. In 2019, she hosted the opening ceremony of ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 along with Andrew Flintoff and Paddy McGuinness in which her husband Farhan Akhtar also appeared as a guest representing India.