Leilani Dowding

Leilani Dowding (born 30 January 1980)[1] is an English former Page 3 girl, glamour model, television celebrity, and the UK representative at Miss Universe 1998.

Leilani Dowding
Born (1980-01-30) 30 January 1980[1]
Bournemouth, Dorset, England
NationalityBritish
Alma materRoyal Holloway, University of London
OccupationGlamour model
Years active1998–present
Spouse(s)Richard Palmer (divorced)
RelativesChris Dowding (father)
Zena Dowding (mother)
Melanie Dowding (sister)
Modelling information
Height1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Hair colourBrown
Eye colourBrown
Websitewww.leilanifanclub.co.uk

Early life

Dowding grew up in Bournemouth, and has a younger sister Melanie. They were brought up Roman Catholic by their Filipina mother Zena, and British father Chris.[1] Leilani was named after her mother's cousin and her name means "heavenly flower".[2]

Dowding and her sister attended St Peter's School in Bournemouth. She gained eleven GCSEs and three A-levels.[1] She began an economics degree at Royal Holloway, University of London, in Surrey, with the intention of becoming a city trader.[3] The then-18-year-old entered and won the 1998 Miss Great Britain competition.[4] In Hawaii later that year she became the first woman of Asian descent to represent Britain in the Miss Universe pageant.[1]

Career

After her success in beauty pageants, Dowding dropped out of university to pursue a full-time modelling career. Although she had not originally considered topless modelling, she started appearing as a Page 3 girl in The Sun in 1999.[1] Her younger sister Melanie ("Mel") Dowding also had a brief career as a model.

In 2003 she was rated #89 on the FHM Sexiest Women in World list.[5]

Dowding has been a guest on various British television shows, modelling on the Big Breakfast and This Morning, and appearing on Faking It, Celebrity Wrestling and Celebrity Fear Factor. She has also enjoyed a season in pantomime as Tiger Lilly in Peter Pan.[1]

Dowding appeared on a charity Page 3 episode of The Weakest Link where she lost out in the final round to Jakki Degg. Dowding was competing on behalf of the RSPCA and breast cancer charities.[6]

Dowding has competed in celebrity poker tournaments and done promotional work for Ladbrokes.[1][7][8]

She also appears in the American TV Reality Show Tough Love Miami, in which she deals with her own superficiality in order to find a suitable mate.

She has visited Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq and Cyprus on morale-boosting trips for British troops abroad.[1]

She appeared in the December 2011 issue of Maxim U.S.[9]

TV credits include: The Millionaire Matchmaker (Series 8 Episode 10); Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles (Series 8 Episode 13).

Dowding has her own clothing line, the Leiluna Collection.

Personal life

Dowding has been engaged to former Wimbledon and Northern Ireland defender Mark Williams and was engaged to former Arsenal FC,West Ham United FC Middlesbrough attacker Jérémie Aliadière.[3][10] She was briefly married to restaurateur Richard Palmer – ex-husband of Raquel Welch, and is now divorced.[11] For the past two years she has been dating Billy Duffy, lead guitarist of The Cult.

Criticism

In 2014, Dowding uploaded a photo of herself dressed as a murdered Native American chief. This was considered extremely offensive by Indian Country Today News.[12]

References
  1. "Biography". Leilani Dowding's Official Site. Retrieved 31 October 2009.
  2. "Leilani Dowding". Archived from the original on 6 June 2008. Leilani was my mum's cousin's name, it means heavenly flower
  3. John Aizlewood (15 January 2006). "The top 10 footballers' Page 3 playmates". The Times. London: News International. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
  4. "Student Leylani Dowding carries off the Miss Great Britain Universe honours". BBC News. 12 March 1998. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  5. "The Sexiest Women In The World 2003" Archived 19 July 2013 at the Wayback Machine. FHM. Retrieved on 4 May 2012.
  6. Beauty and the beast (From Dorset Echo). Archive.dorsetecho.co.uk (27 April 2002). Retrieved on 4 May 2012.
  7. Rajesh Modha Tops off a Million Dollar Night! | PokerNews. Uk.pokernews.com (16 December 2006). Retrieved on 4 May 2012.
  8. Ladbrokes Poker Vegas Dream Packages Archived 7 September 2012 at Archive.today. Pokerplayer.co.uk (30 March 2009). Retrieved on 4 May 2012.
  9. Tweet (4 November 2011). "Leilani Dowding". Maxim. Archived from the original on 22 January 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  10. Meet The Cast Of Tough Love: Miami. Blog.vh1.com (7 September 2011). Retrieved on 4 May 2012.
  11. Russell, Stacey (14 October 2011). "Leilani Dowding Talks Tough Love Miami, Divorce, and Show Drama". Blogs.miaminewtimes.com. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  12. "Is This Model Wearing the Most Disgusting Native American Halloween Costume Ever?" Indian Country Today News. 5 November 2014.
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