Jennifer Hawkins

By Sara Templeton

For Jennifer Hawkins, winning the Miss Universe contest was a very unexpected boon.

Born in the Australian state of New South Wales - in Holmesville, Newcastle to be precise - in 1984, Jennifer was truly shocked when she won the title of Miss Universe, as anyone who watched the 2004 event will attest to.

Even Donald Trump was impressed, at the time saying that she was "The most beautiful Miss Universe I have seen in many, many years".

The youngest of four children, one of Jennifer's earliest pastimes was dancing, and aged five she was already learning the finer points of balance, grace and poise.

A hard working student, Jennifer Hawkins was educated at Barnsley Primary School, followed by West Wallsend High School, during which time her passion for dance didn't wane.

As well as finishing school with top marks, Jennifer continued her study and gained a legal secretarial and office administration certificate, which in 2001 helped her land a job with Newcastle law firm Braye Cragg.

Also in 2001, Jennifer's years of dance practice paid off, and she won a national dance competition. Following this major dancing accolade, she developed an interest in water sports and she took up surfing, recounting how good it felt to finally ride an ocean wave: "It was such an exhilarating moment. It was like being accepted into the men's club as it is such a male-dominated sport and a fundamental way of life in Newcastle."

Jennifer Hawkins' next big career move combined both her growing interest in modeling and also dancing, as she signed up with the cheer squad for the Newcastle Knights Rugby League team, and even became the NRL's cheergirl of the year.

This gave her more mainstream exposure and when she adorned the front cover of Big League magazine (the official League magazine), she reached an even bigger audience, and this set the ball rolling for what would eventually be her crowing as the most beautiful woman in the known universe.

After gracing the cover of the Rugby mag, Jennifer's profile kept on rising and she began to participate in a number of fashion shows and was even crowned Newcastle's Miss Surfest.

Next up in her long list of expanding credits included a third place in the Bartercard 'Miss Indy' competition, and she scored advertising campaigns modeling for Airtime Clothing and others, while also landing a TV ad with her old employer, the Newcastle Knights.

Things became very interesting when Jennifer Hawkins was crowned Miss Australia, automatically entering her into the 52nd edition of the Miss Universe pageant, held in Quito, Ecuador, in June 2004.

Against 86 contestants, Jennifer fronted 7500 spectators and a television audience of about 600 million people. In that situation, I know I would have been a nervous wreck, but she went about the competition with a level of calm that belied her 20 years of age.

Nicknamed 'the thunder from down under' by the pageant's host, Billy Bush, Jennifer Hawkins rampaged through the various sections of the Miss Universe contest, and it turned out that the judges, including Bo Derek and top models Elsa Benitez and Petra Nemcova, were deciding between Miss Australian and Miss USA (Shandi Finnessey).

Jennifer Hawkins eventually won the contest and was crowned with a $200,000 diamond and pearl tiara, which looked splendid, by the way. She also became the first Australian to place first in the pageant since Perth's Kerry Anne Wells back in 1972.

In addition to cosmetics, a crystal chandelier and a tiara, Jennifer was also gifted with a $45,000 film school scholarship and of course the luxury New York City apartment in Trump Towers.

She later spoke to Channel 7, saying "I just can't explain how shocked I am because I never thought this would happen to me, like, I'm just from Newcastle." She has since landed a television job with Channel 7 in Australia, working on the travel show The Great Outdoors, where she gets to galavant all around the world reporting on some of the most beautiful destinations. Lucky girl! 

With her newfound recognition, Jennifer decided to partake in ambassadorial work for a number of charities and foundations, including the Global Health Council, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation and YouthAIDS.

When her reign as Miss Universe came to an end mid-way through 2005, Jennifer Hawkins handed the dutiful task over to her successor, Natalie Glebova, from Canada.

In 2006 Jennifer Hawkins star kept on shining and after her work with Channel 7 in Australia on a travel show she was nominated for the Most Popular New Female Talent at the 2006 Logies, which are the provincial equivalent of the Emmy Awards. She didn't win though...

Still, she's continued to increase her profile over time, making cameo appearances on Donald Trump's self-indulgent TV show, The Apprentice, and also made a very successful showing on the fourth season of Dancing with the Stars in 2006 in Australia. Hawkins has also signed a number of modeling contracts for print campaigns in recent times, such as 3-year deal with Lovable Lingerie Australia. She has also worked on campaigns for Asus laptops, and then in late 2006 she signed a multi-million dollar contract with one of Australia's prominent department stores, Myer, where she would go head-to-head with another prominent Aussie model, Megan Gale [and the rumour is that these two women hate each other - Ines Mendoza], who heads up rival department store David Jones' campaign.

Jennifer is one busy girl, and by busy we mean rich. As of September 2009 she has signed a new four year deal with Myer worth more than $1 million a year. She has contracts with a Cosmetic giant, a lingerie brand, she launched her swimwear range in 2008 and she is the ambassador for Audi. Oh and did we mention she owns a $2.3 million dollar home in the Sydney suburb of Coogee. It's fair to say Jen isn't doing too bad for herself.

So, that's the amazing Jennifer Hawkins story thus far. Where will it go from here: will she begin a music career, or perhaps develop her own line of swimming pools for the elderly? When you're talking about Jennifer Hawkins, who has more charisma than most game show hosts and more fiery energy than your average stratovolcano, anything is possible.