Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters is a beauty pageant titleholder from South Africa who became Miss Universe in 2017. She is the 2nd Miss Universe winner from her homeland to win the prestigious title. Motivated by personal experience, she founded the Unbreakable campaign which conducts workshops to empower women with important self-defense skills when under physical threat. She has also used the global platform to speak out about many women’s issues. She has a huge social media fan base with more than 2 million followers on Instagram and more than 300k followers on Facebook.
Residence
New York City, New York, United States
Family
- Others – Franje (Half-Sister), Willem Andries Nel (Maternal Grandfather), Beatrice Mulder (Maternal Grandmother), Johan Steenkamp (Step-Father), Elzabé Peters (Step-Mother) (Clinical Psychologist)
Manager
Demi-Leigh is represented by –
- Boss Models in Johannesburg
- Vision Management in Cape Town
- IMG Models – Worldwide
Build
Slim
Boyfriend / Spouse
Demi-Leigh has dated –
- (2018-Present) – American baseball player Tim Tebow and Demi-Leigh met at the Night to Shine event, which is a part of the Tim Tebow Foundation, in February 2018. Demi-Leigh and her sister, who has a physical disability, were invited to the event which organizes prom nights for children with special needs. Their romance quickly blossomed due to their shared religious faith. After dating for less than a year, Tim popped the question on January 9, 2019. He proposed to his girlfriend at his family house in Florida and flew out her entire family and close friends to witness the proposal. He presented his fiancée with a 7.25-carat solitaire ring.
Sexual Orientation
Straight
Distinctive Features
Wide smile
Brand Endorsements
Demi-Leigh has done endorsement work for the following brands –
- CHI (2018)
- YOU-C1000
- Lipault
- PrettyLittleThing
- Swarovski
- Gert-Johan Coetzee
- Muca Skin Care
- God’s Love We Deliver
Best Known For
Winning the title of Miss Universe 2017 and being the 2nd South African to win the coveted beauty pageant
First TV Show
Demi-Leigh made her TV show debut on The Dan Nicholl Show as a guest in 2017.
Personal Trainer
For Demi-Leigh, being fit and healthy isn’t just a part of her job but it’s a way of life. Her active lifestyle began in middle school where she played hockey and participated in cross-country . Additionally, she also enjoys outdoor activities like hiking, trail runs, and road racing. So, she combined her love for the outdoors and fitness by allocating specific workouts for each day of the week.
Her weekly workout routine is as follows –
- Monday – Works on her legs in the gym
- Tuesday – Goes running in the park to get her workout
- Wednesday – Focuses on her and arms
- Thursday – Cardio exercise in the form of Rumble boxing classes
- Friday – A full-body workout in the gym
- Saturday – Outdoor exercise by running in the park
- Sunday – Rest day
Due to her busy schedule, she carries an elastic band with her while on the go. She does bicep curls, leg lifts, shoulder presses, side arm raises, back exercises, donkey kicks, normal squats, jump squats, and drag walks with the help of the elastic band. She also carries a jump rope for some extra cardio at times.
Demi-Leigh likes to start her day with an apple and Justin’s peanut butter packets before heading to work out. She opts for half a cup of black coffee from Starbucks after her fitness sessions. To satiate her hunger pangs, she likes to carry bars and a workout shake made by mixing cashew nuts, raw cacao powder, coconut, Life protein, and (sometimes) 90% dark . She also takes omega-3 supplements and multivitamins regularly.
Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters Favorite Things
- Quote – “The woman who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. The woman who walks alone is likely to find herself in places no-one else has ever been before” by Albert Einstein
- Former Miss Universe –
- Meal – Pork ribs with a barbeque hemming served with oven roast vegetables, Oxtail in a red wine reduction served with samp
- TV Show – Suits
- TV Character – Donna Roberta Paulsen from Suits
- Actress –
- Meal Of The Day – Breakfast
- Hair Product – CHI Tree Oil Revitalizing Masque
- Aspect Of The Miss Universe Pageant – National Costume Competition
Source – , MissUniverse.com, TVSA.co.za, Cosmopolitan.co.za, ECR.co.za, BeautyLaunchpad.com, TVInsider.com
Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters Facts
- She has credited her half-sister Franje for being her biggest motivation in life. Franje is her father’s daughter through his 2nd marriage. She was born without a cerebellum and lives with her parents in Potchefstroom.
- She was distinguished from an early age for being the first girl in her high school to become the head girl of the school and hostel. While studying in Grade 11, she was appointed as the Deputy Junior Mayor of the George City Council.
- After winning the Miss South Africa title, she was eligible for both Miss Universe and Miss World competitions. She could only participate in one of the pageants as the two dates coincided, so she was sent for the Miss Universe 2017 contest held in Las Vegas, Nevada.
- She is the 2nd Miss Universe from South Africa. Prior to her, Margaret Gardiner won the title in 1978.
- Demi-Leigh began participating in pageantry from a young age. Prior to her big win, she had won the title of Miss Diaz 2012, Miss NWU Varsity Cup 2015, and Miss Varsity Cup 2015 and also was a Top 5 finalist at the Miss Teen South Africa 2010.
- Months after being crowned Miss South Africa 2017, she was carjacked by 5 armed men at Hyde Park in Johannesburg. After handing over her car keys, she was forcibly held in the car. She managed to escape by punching one of her captors in the throat and ran away to safety. Co-incidentally, she had attended a workshop by Woman INpowered before and it had equipped her with the life-saving skills to defend herself in the carjacking situation.
- The hijack attempt motivated her to start a program to train women in self-defense. Her Unbreakable campaign hosts workshops all over the world to help women learn the important self-defense skills in life-threatening situations.
- Demi-Leigh has 2 pet dogs, Benji and Baxter. Both of them are Yorkshire Terrier breed.
- She is bi-lingual and fluently speaks English and Afrikaans.
- Her hobbies include making handmade cards for loved ones and scrapbooking.
- Follow her on and .
Featured Image by Bollywood Vintage / / CC BY-3.0
Facts of Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters
- Gender Undefined
- full nameDemi-Leigh Nel-Peters
- middle nameLeigh Nel
- nicknamesDemi
- birthplaceSedgefield, Western Cape, South Africa
- Date of Birth June 28, 1995
- Age 29 years 4 months
- Horoscope Cancer
- Lucky Number 4
- Lucky Stone Moonstone
- Lucky Color Silver
- Best Match for Marriage Taurus, Pisces, Scorpio
- ethnicity / ethnic backgroundMultiracial (Black, White, and Asian)
- nationalityAfrican
- religionChristianity
- net worth$5 million
- professionModel, Beauty Pageant Titleholder
- weight57 kg
- height5 ft 8 in
- hair colorDark Brown ( She often tends to dye her hair ‘blonde)
- eye colorHazel
- shoe size / feet size8.5 (US) or 39 (EU) or 6 (UK)
- high schoolNorth-West University
- motherAnne-Marie Steenkamp (Interior designer and Landscaper)
- fatherBennie Peters