By Stig Editor 
How One Workout in a Melbourne Gym Changed Travis Fimmel’s Life Forever
Before he was the rugged face of Vikings, Travis Fimmel was just another young man lifting weights in a Melbourne gym until fate stepped in.
In the late 1990s, Fimmel was training when he caught the attention of a talent scout. At the time, he had no ambitions for the spotlight; he was a country boy from Echuca, Victoria, who had moved to Melbourne to study and work. But with his striking looks, athletic build, and piercing blue eyes, he was impossible to overlook.
That chance encounter led him to sign with Chadwick Models, and soon, Fimmel was on a plane to Los Angeles. By 2002, he became the first male in the world to sign a six-figure deal with Calvin Klein for an exclusive fragrance and fashion campaign a move that catapulted him into global stardom.
Years later, Fimmel would swap the runway for the screen, winning hearts as Ragnar Lothbrok in the hit History Channel series Vikings. Yet he’s often quick to credit that one seemingly ordinary day in the gym as the spark that ignited his entire career.
It’s a reminder that sometimes, life’s biggest opportunities come when we least expect them even in the middle of a workout.