Catwalk princess vies for SA Junior crown
Westville lass, Jenna O'Brien, vies for the Miss Junior SA crown in Johannesburg this April.
ASPIRING Westville model, Jenna O’Brien, will have her eye on the crown when she participates in the Miss Junior SA pageant in Johannesburg at the end of April.
The idea of showing people who she really was is what prompted Jenna to start modelling four years ago. She now models for Mobile Model Agency.
She said this would be the third time participating in this prestigious pageant, ranking in the top 10 in 2013.
After achieving a perfect score from the judges at the preliminaries in Ballito last September she qualified for the finals. She decided to do things differently this time round, training since last October.
The pageant is divided into three categories – formal wear, casual wear and a theme contest, which this year is ‘Circus/Carnival’. Jenna is planning to wear a popcorn salesman’s outfit for the theme contest.
The winner of the pageant will travel to Turkey to represent SA at the Miss World Junior pageant. However, the top three winners will also receive boxes of sponsored prizes. Should Jenna win, a percentage of the proceeds from the pageant will go towards Jenna’s chosen charity, which is the Baby House in Westville. Throughout her reign Jenna would become an ambassador and have to conduct charity and community work across the country.
The entrance fee for the five-day pageant, from 28 April to 3 May, is R1 500 and excludes airfares and accommodation. Therefore Jenna and her parents are hosting a fundraiser modelling competition at Westville Senior Primary School hall on Saturday, 7 March from 2pm.
Registration is at 2.30pm to 3.30pm and the contest starts at 4pm. The entrance fee for the pageant is R30, and spectator fee R20. Age groups for girls and boys are two to five years, six to nine years, 10 to 12 years and 13 to 16 years. No experience is necessary and the dress code is smart-casual. Tickets are available through Helen O’Brien on 082 416 0660, helenobrien@telkomsa.net or at the door. There will also be a tuckshop and prizes on offer.
Jenna said she draws inspiration from top models, Tyra Banks and Coco Rocha, and said her lifetime role model is none other than swimming champion, Chad le Clos.
Her goal is to become a professional model and do cross country in the Olympics. To prove her passion for modelling Jenna agreed to sell her tickets to the One Direction concert to pursue her modelling dreams.
When not on the catwalk Jenna enjoys dancing, running, cooking and spending time with her family and friends.
“I hope to do my best at the Miss Junior SA pageant,” added Jenna.
