Fernanda Motta
By Sara Templeton
 Not
too far away from Rio de Janeiro there is a stretch of soft
sand and tropical water called Guarapari beach. "So what,
Sara, I've got a cess pit behind my house" I hear you
say?
Well, here's the rub - Guarapari beach is famous for more
than one reason, the first being that the model in question,
Fernanda Motta, along with the likes of Ana
Beatriz Barros, was discovered there.
The beautiful beach is also famous right across Brazil for
the radioactivity of its dark sands. And before you choke
on your salmon, cream cheese and caper calzone, this is no
ordinary radioactivity. Well, not in the spleen-melting sense,
at least.
Rather than barrels full of toxic ooze being dumped under
the cover of darkness, the Guarapari region is known for its
naturally occurring low levels of radiation, believed to be
radium
(used for treating cancer) for those that are interested.
Just as uranium occurs naturally in the rock formations in
Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory, so does a
much less lethal level of radium in some areas of Brazil.
But before I get carried away with the concept of a life-changing
trip to the beach, let's concentrate on Fernanda Motta and
the lead up to her life-changing trip to the beach.
Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1981, Fernanda was the youngest
of many siblings, and her extended family gatherings ensured
that the youngest (and most adorable) of the children always
received the most attention.
A
lot of Fernanda's youth was spent enjoying time with her best friends,
and who would have guessed that one of her favourite pastimes was
hanging out at radium-enriched beaches? Not me. Of life in Brazil she
remains very philosophical, saying "Life is really easy in Rio.
Everybody works until four and then goes to the beach." That's nothing.
I work until five then go straight to taxidermy class. Mounting dead
animals is way tougher than going to the beach, believe you me.
So, when she was 16 Fernanda was relaxing at the picturesque
Guarapari beach when a model scout spotted her and simply
trotted up to the Brazilian beauty and told her what most
women want to hear: your are completely and utter gorgeous. Wanna be a model??
The scout told Fernanda that she had a look that would go
a long way in the world of fashion, and though she was initially
aghast at the proposition, she took a punt and went for it.\
Soon after being discovered, Fernanda's success in Brazil
was instant, and she got plenty of publicity appearing on
local television, and she also scored a small part in the
Argentinean film Sólo Por Hoy (Just for Today)
in 2001. And as Fernanda's star began to rise, big names took notice,
particularly Victoria's Secret, of which the lingerie corporation
appears to have a penchant for Brazilian models.
She landed contracts with Wonderbra Brazil as well as with
shampoo giant Pantene in North America, and it was only a
matter of time before before the big Western groups were scrabbling
to get her face on their products.
First came her Brazilian Vogue appearance, followed by the
cover of Glamour (US) in February 2004, not long after which
she was plucked from mainstream obscurity to be thrust into
the bathrooms of American males everywhere as she made her
debut showing in the 2004 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
Today Fernanda Motta lives in New York and name her hobbies
as 'shopping'. Eventually she wants to move back to her homeland
and start a family, and she also sees Brazilian stunner Ana
Hickmann as a role model, saying she wants to have her
own line of products like her established countrywoman.
At present Fernanda enjoys listening to hip-hop and rap beats
from the likes of Ja Rule, Snoop Dogg and 50 Cent (Fiddy Sen),
and perhaps now we can all rest safe in knowing the reason
so many top models and beautiful people come from Brazil:
They've all been to Guarapari beach and have been mutated
into stunning specimens by the oh-so-slightly radioactive
sand. It's a water tight theory, so tell your friends and book your airline tickets!
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