Anton Antipov is a stunning model, a genuine internet sensation with a massive following, and an amazingly sweet and articulate guy. But with so many legends and rumors floating around on the web, we wanted to get the straight dope, directly from him.

Where are you from?
I was born on May 6th, 1983 in Bobruisk, Belarus, a small country in Europe. At one point most of my siblings and family started migrating to the states. My parents and my sister were the only ones left from my dad’s family side, still living in Bobruisk, so we decided to move as well. I was twelve when I came here. We settled in Brooklyn, New York City.

Your English is perfect, though.
I didn’t know I was going to come to the States, so back in Belarus, in school I took French. I didn’t go to school for the first year, and was really jealous that my sister got to attend an American school while I was stuck at home watching TV, which is how I eventually learned how to briefly speak English.

Do you still have friends in Belarus?
Unfortunately I don’t keep in touch anymore with my friends back in Belarus, but I would one day love to bump into some of them.

You always had such an athletic body. Don’t tell us it’s all about genes!
My father was a performer, a dancer and a gymnast — an all around athletic guy. So, back home he was shaping me up, so to speak. I would do sit-ups few days a week, and took Sambo — a popular martial art back there, did pull-ups, played all kind of sports and active games with kids in the neighborhood, including tree tag, playing tag in the trees without coming down on the ground.

When did you start thinking about modeling?
I grew up very skinny. When I first went to school in America I was the smallest kid in the class, was never a hit with the girls, but made a lot of great friends with whom I still keep in touch. Later in my teens I started being somewhat of a rebel, staying out for days, dying my hair blond. I grew up a bit, girls started to like me, several people asked me if I ever thought about modeling, which boosted my confidence enough to email an agency and send my photos. I read on every site that I got my start by being approached by an agent while working at A/X — I was approached by several, but thought they were not legit.

You’re not alone there. When we interviewed Chris Leabu in July, he also debunked a legend about how it all started for him. Who did you send your picture to?
Boss Models. I emailed them because after reading about models and their agencies, I came across a bio of Marcus Schenkenberg, and read that he was the first male supermodel and got his start with Boss. John Babin, who was a booker there at the time, emailed me back right away. He wanted to meet me the next day. I was really nervous, so I asked my friend Michelle to come with me. I met with John and the rest of the bookers and was signed the next day.

How was that first experience?
I had medium-length blonde hair and they wanted me to grow it out. At the time, Steven Strait just started modeling with them as well, we had castings together now and then. Now he does movies, good for him, he’s a genuine guy. Throughout my stay at Boss, which was a little over two years, I got really discouraged by not booking jobs as often as I would have liked. I eventually stopped going to castings, cut off my blonde hair and left the agency.

Next week, we’ll talk about Anton’s new body and his plans for the future. We’ll also tell you everything about his 10,000-strong fan club. We interviewed its founder, Thomas — we could never have done this story without him.