Local teen wins twice at the Unseen International Pageant
“I feel extremely fortunate to be a role model and would like to encourage more girls to enter pageants and not be scared."
An Alberton model Zanelle Huyzers was crowned Unseen International Charity/Community 2024 and Unseen International Teen 2024 at the Unseen International Pageant held in Kempton Park.
The pageant was the first gender equality pageant, which encouraged Huyzers to join.
Huyzers said she felt welcome from the moment she entered the pageant and she felt as though she was part of the Unseen family.
“I feel extremely fortunate to be a role model and would like to encourage more girls to enter pageants and not be scared. The different segments were stressful, but I stayed positive through it all.
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“In the introduction segment, I was worried that my introduction was not good enough or long enough. I just gave it my all,” said Huyzers.
Huyzers has her own NPC, the Archangel Rachael’s Helper Zanelle.
Huyzers hopes that with her title, she will encourage more people to support her organisation and upcoming projects, such as adopting a senior citizen.
She said being a Grade 10 learner is not easy. To cope and balance, she carefully breaks down all her activities and responsibilities.
She said schoolwork is important to her and she spends most of her time on it.
In her spare time, she hopes to fulfil her title-holder responsibilities.
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“One enormous challenge I had to face was not believing in myself, and I broke myself down. I just had to draw a line and tell myself that I am better than I believe. The title means absolutely everything to me. I worked hard for it,” she said.
Huyzers started modelling in 2013 at the age of five.
In 2018 she was named junior debutante for Figures Model and won a boat cruise.
Huyzers entered her first big pageant in 2021 when she was crowned Miss Ekurhuleni.
She also obtained the title of Miss Teen Alberton’s second princess in 2022 and Miss Alberton Teen’s first princess in 2023.
She currently holds the Miss Excellency Ambassador crown for 2023.
