Any remaining doubt that Pietro Boselli—the world’s sexiest math teacher—is a hunk with a brain was confuted at the press conference held Sunday by Bench, his newest endorsement deal. The 28-year-old Italian model with a PhD is in the country to promote the clothing brand’s new collection of underwear and sporty separates.

He casually used the word “confute” (which means “to refute conclusively”) to describe how he sometimes enjoys being proven entirely wrong, especially when meeting new people.

“When I was in school, I wasn’t content to be just a good student. I wanted to be the best,” Boselli said. “I was the one seated in the front row during class, and I would check if the professors were right.”

If there were “terror teachers” in school when we were growing up, then there must have been their student counterparts—smart alecks nobody liked because they acted like they knew everything.

It’s difficult, however, not to like Boselli with his eager, childlike gaze. That his body is like sculpted marble makes him even easier on the eyes.

He pointed out, however, that he worked hard at bulking up, heading to the gym regularly and making it a point to shake up his routines.

In an interview he gave in the March issue of Benchmark, the in-house magazine of Bench, he compared how strengthening one’s body is similar to strengthening one’s mind.

“If you always do the same thing, your body adapts to that and gets no stimulation anymore, which is why you have to change it up. It’s the same with everything you do, really. In the end, one thing becomes beneficial to the other.”

Young model

Even as a child, Boselli was already singled out for his looks. At six years old, he modeled for Armani Junior, the children’s line of clothing by designer Giorgio Armani.

In college, he took up Mechanical Engineering at University College London, graduating with first class honors, with a degree in Bachelor of Engineering in 2010. While studying for his PhD, he taught undergrad mathematics to Mechanical Engineering students. It was during this time that some students uploaded photos of him, although the images only became viral a year later.

By then, however, he was in the thick of preparing for his PhD. “I needed to focus on my studies, so even if there were offers to do this or that and an invite to go to Los Angeles to appear on a talk show, I turned them all down.”

When he sets his mind on something, he inevitably sees it through. In February last year, he earned his PhD. Only then did he consider doing other things like traveling and pushing himself physically. He also finally gave in and set up personal Facebook and Instagram accounts.

Social media darling

“Social media was never something I had an interest in. I was always working on my studies. I was that guy who refused to have Facebook,” he said in his interview in Benchmark. He now has 1.7 million IG followers, while his YouTube account, where he uploads exercise videos, has 27,000 subscribers.

“I believe in expanding one’s horizons. I learned to love my home and my family even more after I was able to travel. However, I was only able to do all this after devoting time to my studies.”

The eldest of four boys, Boselli was the first to move out and indulge his love of travel. Despite this, he finds time to call home daily to talk with his parents.

“The key to time management is to just do it, get on with it,” he said.

So when he was approached by the Bench team to be its newest endorser, he did some research and found out that it was the biggest Filipino apparel brand in the country, one that “loves local but thinks global.”

“Bench is known for expanding globally. I wanted to be a part of that, and I’m thankful for being part of that.

“I also like the clothes; they’re casual wear, perfect for the beach,” he said.

It was also a chance for him to come to the Philippines, a country he has never visited but one he was interested in seeing.

“I’ve only been here a few days, but I already know I want to come back. I feel like the Philippines is my home. I plan to stay here for 20 years so I hope Bench’s funds don’t run out,” he joked.