Leilani Dowding
Leilani Dowding | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 30 January 1980[1] Bournemouth, Dorset, England |
| Alma mater | Royal Holloway, University of London |
| Occupation | Glamour model |
| Years active | 1998–present |
| Height | 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in) |
| Spouse | Richard Palmer (divorced) |
| Relatives | Chris Dowding (father) Zena Dowding (mother) Melanie Dowding (sister) |
| Beauty pageant titleholder | |
| Title | Miss Great Britain 1998 |
| Hair colour | Brown |
| Eye colour | Brown |
| Major competition(s) | Miss Great Britain 1998 (Winner) Miss Universe 1998 (Unplaced) |
| Website | www |
Leilani Dowding (born 30 January 1980)[1] is an English tv host, model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Great Britain 1998 and represented her country at Miss Universe 1998 but unplaced.
Early life[edit]
Dowding grew up in Bournemouth, and has a younger sister Melanie. They were brought up Roman Catholic by their Filipina mother Zena, and British father Chris.[1]
Dowding and her sister attended St Peter's School in Bournemouth. She gained eleven GCSEs and three A-levels.[1] She began an economics degree at Royal Holloway, University of London, in Surrey, with the intention of becoming a city trader.[2] The then-18-year-old entered and won the 1998 Miss Great Britain competition.[3] In Hawaii later that year she became the first woman of Asian descent to represent Britain in the Miss Universe pageant.[1]
Career[edit]
After her success in beauty pageants, Dowding dropped out of university to pursue a full-time modelling career. Although she had not originally considered topless modelling, she started appearing as a Page 3 girl in The Sun in 1999.[1] Her younger sister Melanie ("Mel") Dowding also had a brief career as a model.
In 2003, she was rated #89 on the FHM Sexiest Women in The World list.[4]
Dowding has been a guest on various television shows, modelling on the Big Breakfast and This Morning, and appearing on Faking It, Celebrity Wrestling and Celebrity Fear Factor. She has also enjoyed a season in pantomime as Tiger Lilly in Peter Pan.[1]
Dowding appeared on a charity Page 3 episode of The Weakest Link where she lost out in the final round to Jakki Degg. Dowding was competing on behalf of the RSPCA and breast cancer charities.[5]
Dowding has competed in celebrity poker tournaments and done promotional work for Ladbrokes.[1][6][7]
She also appeared in the American TV Reality Show Tough Love Miami, in which she dealt with her own superficiality[clarification needed] in order to find a suitable mate.
She has visited Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq and Cyprus on morale-boosting trips for British troops abroad.[1]
She appeared in the December 2011 issue of Maxim U.S.[8]
TV credits include: The Millionaire Matchmaker (Series 8 Episode 10) and Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles (Series 8 Episode 13).
Dowding has her own clothing line, the Leiluna Collection.[citation needed]
Since 2022 Dowding has been a conservative commentator on shows hosted by Mark Steyn.[9]
Personal life[edit]
Dowding has been engaged to former Wimbledon and Northern Ireland defender Mark Williams and was engaged to former Arsenal, West Ham and Middlesbrough attacker Jérémie Aliadière, having previously been in a relationship with former West Ham and Sheffield Wednesday footballer Anwar Uddin.[2][10][11]
She was briefly married to restaurateur Richard Palmer, ex-husband of Raquel Welch, and is now divorced.[12]
For the past two years[clarification needed] she has been dating Billy Duffy, lead guitarist of The Cult.[citation needed] Leilani and Duffy got engaged in March 2020.[13]
In 2022, Dowding made remarks about nineteen year old American beauty pageant contestant, Brían Nguyen, who became the first transgender woman to win a pageant through the Miss America organization, referring to her as a "overweight man caked in make up."[14]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Biography". Leilanifanclub.co.uk. Retrieved 31 October 2009.
- ^ a b John Aizlewood (15 January 2006). "The top 10 footballers' Page 3 playmates". The Times. London: News International. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
- ^ "Student Leylani Dowding carries off the Miss Great Britain Universe honours". BBC News. 12 March 1998. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
- ^ "The Sexiest Women In The World 2003" Archived 19 July 2013 at the Wayback Machine. FHM. Retrieved on 4 May 2012.
- ^ Beauty and the beast (From Dorset Echo). Archive.dorsetecho.co.uk (27 April 2002). Retrieved on 4 May 2012.
- ^ Rajesh Modha Tops off a Million Dollar Night! | PokerNews. Uk.pokernews.com (16 December 2006). Retrieved on 4 May 2012.
- ^ Ladbrokes Poker Vegas Dream Packages Archived 7 September 2012 at archive.today. Pokerplayer.co.uk (30 March 2009). Retrieved on 4 May 2012.
- ^ Tweet (4 November 2011). "Leilani Dowding". Maxim. Archived from the original on 22 January 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
- ^ https://www.steynonline.com/13580/the-best-of-leilani
- ^ Meet The Cast Of Tough Love: Miami. Blog.vh1.com (7 September 2011). Retrieved on 4 May 2012.
- ^ "Leilani sings for England". Dorset Echo. Dorset. 17 May 2002. Archived from the original on 31 March 2007. Retrieved 13 June 2008.
- ^ Russell, Stacey (14 October 2011). "Leilani Dowding Talks Tough Love Miami, Divorce, and Show Drama". Blogs.miaminewtimes.com. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
- ^ Knight, Lewis (16 March 2020). "Real Housewives of Cheshire star Leilani Dowding engaged to rocker Billy Duffy". Mirror.co.uk. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
- ^ Ke, Bryan (22 November 2022). "Crowning of first transgender woman in local Miss America pageant sparks 'woke' criticism". news.yahoo.com. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
External links[edit]
