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Jennifer Hawkins Profile |
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Birth Date: December 22, 1983
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Birth Place: Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
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Birth Name: Jennifer Hawkins
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Height: 6'0"
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Biography |
Jennifer Hawkins was born in the Australian city of
Newcastle, two hours north of Sydney, in 1984. This regional
township has a predominant beach culture, making it the
perfect family environment.
Jennifer was the youngest of four children, a position that
exposed her to plenty of influence and tutelage from older
siblings. Her parents, homemaker Gail and train company
manager Robert, remain happily married to this day.
One of Jennifer's first hobbies was dancing, something she
took up at the age of 5. While she was devoted to dancing,
it never got in the way of her education, which commenced at
Barnsley Public Primary School and then continued at West
Wallsend High School. During those years, Jennifer was
regarded as a quiet student and was always at the top of her
class.
Being a smart and responsible person, Jennifer knew that
whatever pursuits she was to undertake, she would need a
safety plan to fall back on if things didn't turn out as
anticipated. So she continued going to school and earned a
legal secretarial and office administration certificate.
Even while working for the Newcastle law firm Braye Cragg in
2001, Jennifer never lost sight of her modeling ambitions.
That same year, she won a national dance competition.
Her agility on the dance floor led Jennifer to try her hand
at water sports, and she soon became addicted to surfing and
wakeboarding. Her next professional step was to become a
cheerleader for the Newcastle Knights Rugby League team.
Jennifer took naturally to her new job, and in 2001 she was
named the National Rugby League's Cheergirl of the Year.
This landed her the cover of Big League magazine, the
National Rugby League's official publication.
From that moment, a full-time modeling career was within
Jennifer's grasp. She made that career move in 2002. After
modeling for a student designer fashion show, she moved on
to beauty pageants. Soon, she was crowned Newcastle's Miss
Surfest.
Jennifer finished third at the Bartercard Miss Indy
competition, then starred in a television ad for the
Newcastle Knights Store. This appearance got her contracts
for modeling jobs with Airtime Clothing and Dirt Action
magazine.
Jennifer then got the break of a lifetime when she won the
title of Miss Australia. This gave her both national
attention and the access to participate in the 52nd edition
of the Miss Universe pageant being held in Quito, Ecuador,
in June 2004.
Under the watchful eye of pageant owner Donald Trump, 7,500
spectators, and an estimated 600 million TV viewers in 180
countries, the most beautiful women in the world duked it
out with their evening gowns, bikinis and world peace
speeches.
In the end, the judges -- which included Bo Derek, The
Apprentice winner Bill Rancic as well as Sports Illustrated
swimsuit models Elsa Benitez and Petra Nemcova -- were torn
between Jennifer and Miss USA Shandi Finnessey.
After much deliberation, Jennifer became the first
Australian Miss Universe since Kerry Ann Wells in 1972.
Along with some expensive knickknacks like cosmetics, a
crystal chandelier and a tiara, she was awarded a $45,000
film school scholarship and a luxury New York City riverside
apartment to be used during her reign.
While Jennifer appreciated all these prizes, she especially
welcomed the opportunity to become an ambassador for such
charitable organizations as the Global Health Council,
amfAR, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation and
YouthAIDS.
Jennifer has said that what she would like most is to become
an anchorwoman for a national news show. In the meantime,
she has allegedly entered negotiations to appear along with
Shandi Finnessey in an erotic Bollywood-type musical where
she would be required to bare it all.
Aside from her year-long stay in New York City, Jennifer is
based in Sydney's beach suburb of Bondi, where she never
misses an opportunity to go surfing. |
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Other
Information |
2004 Miss Universe
Former Newcastle Knights Cheergirl |
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