Karan Mehra is an Indian television actor, model, and fashion designer born on 10 September 1982 in Jalandhar, Punjab. His family relocated to Delhi when he was young. He attended Apeejay School, Noida, completed Class 12, and briefly worked as a summer trainee at Dominos Pizza before pursuing modelling and fashion. He studied fashion design, subsequently working as a costume designer on Bollywood films Shiva (2006) and Palak (2006) and the film Hastey Hastey before transitioning fully to acting. His television career began with Kasamh Se (Zee TV, 2006) and Dharti Ka Veer Yodha Prithviraj Chauhan (Imagine TV, 2006). His iconic role came in Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai (Star Plus, 2009–2016), in which he played Naitik Singhania — a traditional Marwari businessman and devoted husband to Akshara (Hina Khan) — across 2,462 episodes and over seven years, making him one of the longest-serving leads in Indian television history. He won multiple Best Actor awards for the role. He was previously married to actress Nisha Rawal (2012–2021); they have one son, Kavish Mehra. In October 2016, he entered Bigg Boss 10 on Colors TV alongside his on-screen son Rohan Mehra — a unique father-son parallel that played out in interesting ways inside the house. He was eliminated in Week 5 (Day 33), finishing sixteenth.
His iconic portrayal of Naitik Singhania — the male lead and Akshara's husband — in the Star Plus serial Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai (2009–2016), one of Indian TV's longest-running and highest-rated shows with 2,462 episodes; winning the Best Actor (Drama) category at the Zee Rishtey Awards and Indian Telly Awards multiple times for the role; being the biological on-screen father of fellow BB10 contestant Rohan Mehra's character Naksh; finishing sixteenth in Bigg Boss 10 (2016–17).