Leilani Dowding facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Leilani Dowding
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| Born | 30 January 1980 Bournemouth, Dorset, England
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| Alma mater | Royal Holloway, University of London |
| Occupation | Glamour model |
| Height | 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in) |
| Title | Miss Great Britain 1998 |
| Spouse(s) | Richard Palmer (divorced) |
| Beauty pageant titleholder | |
| Hair colour | Brown |
| Eye colour | Brown |
| Major competition(s) |
Miss Great Britain 1998 (Winner) Miss Universe 1998 (Unplaced) |
Leilani Dowding (born 30 January 1980) is an English former beauty pageant winner and model. She also works as a media personality and shares her views as a conservative commentator.
Leilani became well-known after winning the Miss Great Britain competition in 1998. She then represented the United Kingdom at the Miss Universe pageant that same year. After this, she decided to leave college to become a full-time model. She appeared in The Sun newspaper as a Page 3 girl. Later, she was featured on different TV shows in both the United States and the UK, like Tough Love Miami and The Real Housewives of Cheshire.
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Early Life and Education
Leilani Dowding grew up in Bournemouth, England, with her younger sister, Melanie. Their mother, Zena, is from the Philippines, and their father, Chris, is British. They were brought up in the Roman Catholic faith.
Leilani and her sister went to St Peter's School in Bournemouth. Leilani was a good student, earning eleven GCSEs and three A-levels. She started studying economics at Royal Holloway, University of London, in Surrey. Her goal was to become a city trader, working in finance.
Winning Miss Great Britain
When she was 18, Leilani entered the 1998 Miss Great Britain competition and won. This big win changed her plans for a career in finance. Later that year, she traveled to Hawaii to represent Britain in the Miss Universe pageant. She was the first woman of Asian background to represent Britain in this international competition.
Career Highlights
After her success in beauty pageants, Leilani left university to focus on a full-time modeling career. In 1999, she began appearing as a Page 3 girl in The Sun newspaper. This made her a very recognizable face in the UK.
Television Appearances
Leilani has been a guest on many television shows. She modeled on The Big Breakfast and This Morning. She also appeared on reality and game shows like Faking It, Celebrity Wrestling, and Celebrity Fear Factor. She competed on a special charity episode of The Weakest Link. On that show, she played to raise money for the RSPCA (a charity for animals) and breast cancer charities.
Other Ventures
Beyond modeling and TV, Leilani has explored other areas. She performed in pantomime, which is a type of musical play popular in the UK, playing the character Tiger Lilly in Peter Pan. She has also taken part in celebrity poker tournaments and done promotional work for Ladbrokes, a betting company.
Her reality television work includes the US show Tough Love Miami and the British program The Real Housewives of Cheshire. Leilani also started her own clothing brand, called the Leiluna Collection. Since 2022, she has been a conservative commentator, sharing her opinions on current events and politics through media hosted by Mark Steyn.
Personal Life
Leilani Dowding has dated several professional footballers. This led to her being known as a "WAG" in the British tabloid newspapers. She was engaged to Mark Williams, a former defender for Wimbledon F.C. and Northern Ireland. Their relationship lasted two years before they ended their engagement. She was also engaged to Jérémie Aliadière, a former attacker for Arsenal F.C.
Leilani lived in the United States for more than ten years. During this time, she was briefly married to American actor and restaurant owner Richie Palmer. While living in California, she began dating Billy Duffy, who is the lead guitarist for the British rock band The Cult. They became engaged in 2020. The couple later moved back to the UK and now live in Manchester. Leilani has shared that she has chosen not to have children.
See also
In Spanish: Leilani Dowding para niños
