Andrea Fonseka (born 29 August 1984) is a Filipino-Malaysian model, television presenter, actress and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned

Miss Universe Malaysia 2004 Miss Malaysia Universe 2004, the 38th edition of the Miss Universe Malaysia, was held on 16 April 2004 at Kuala Lumpur. Andrea Fonseka of Kuala Lumpur, Penang was crowned by the outgoing titleholder, Elaine Daly of Perak, Kuala Lumpur at the end ...

. As an actress, she is currently working predominantly in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

and

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

Personal life

Andrea Fonseka was born in Penang, Malaysia, on 29 August 1984. She is of mixed ethnic heritage. Her father is of

Sinhalese Sinhala may refer to: * Something of or related to the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka * Sinhalese people * Sinhala language, one of the three official languages used in Sri Lanka * Sinhala script, a writing system for the Sinhala language ** Sinha ...

(Sri Lankan),

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

, and

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

descent, while her mother is of

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

descent. She is the youngest of four daughters and currently lives and works between

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. She studied at SMK(P) Taman Petaling (Taman Petaling Girls' National Secondary School) in

Petaling Jaya ) , website = , image_skyline = , image_caption = ''From top, left to right:Skyline of Petaling Jaya, the 1 Utama Mall integrated with Bandar Utama Station, the Kota Darul Ehsan arch, the Petaling J ...

during her secondary school years. She also holds a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

from the

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1905 as the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School, NUS is the oldest autonomous university in the c ...

. Fonseka married an Australian lawyer Paul Dewar on 31 July 2010, in Kuala Lumpur.

Career

Fonseka first came to the public's attention when she hosted the first season of Xfresh.tv, a teen program produced by Malaysia's

Astro TVIQ Astro TVIQ (formerly known as TVIQ) was an English-language (formerly both hybrid language Malay-language and English-language) channel. This channel was free as it was grouped under the Astro Family package. The viewership target was for childr ...

. In 2004, Andrea followed her mother's footsteps and won the Miss Malaysia Universe title.Former Miss Malaysia shares KL's best-kept shopping secret
Felix Cheong,

Asiaone AsiaOne is Singapore's first pure play digital content platform, serving readers primarily in Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong. AsiaOne was first launched in 1995 by Singapore Press Holdings and is currently a joint venture between mm2 Asia ...

, 18 October 2008. She subsequently represented Malaysia in

Miss Universe 2004 Miss Universe 2004, the 53rd Miss Universe pageant, was held on June 1, 2004, at the Centro de Convenciones CEMEXPO in Quito, Ecuador. Jennifer Hawkins of Australia was crowned by Amelia Vega of the Dominican Republic as her successor at the end ...

, in

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

. After the pageant, Andrea relocated to

to study

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

at the

. She graduated with a

from NUS in 2008. Shortly after moving to Singapore, Andrea became an ambassador for Marie France Bodyline and appeared on numerous magazine covers, including FHM Singapore. This exposure led her to becoming a host on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

'
Score Today
and then suitcase girl number 10 in ''

Deal or No Deal ''Deal or No Deal'' is the name of several closely related television game shows, the first of which (launching the format) was the Dutch ''Miljoenenjacht (Netherlands), Miljoenenjacht'' (''Hunt/Chase for Millions''). The centerpiece of this f ...

'' on

Mediacorp Mediacorp Pte. Ltd., doing business as Mediacorp and stylised as mediacorp, is a media conglomerate in Singapore. Owned by Temasek Holdings—the holding company of the Government of Singapore—it owns television, radio, and digital media prope ...

Channel 5. Following the success of Deal or No Deal, Channel 5 invited Andrea to co-host the live TV singing contes
Live The Dream
with Utt and Michelle Chia. Andrea subsequently moved into acting, starring in small parts in

Maggi & Me ''Maggi & Me'' () is a Singaporean fantasy situation comedy that airs on Mediacorp Channel 5. The English-language series debuted 25 July 2006 and stars Fiona Xie and Adrian Pang in the title roles. The series wrapped up its season 1 finale ...

and Parental Guidance, and then landing major roles in Housemates, the channel 5 drama

En Bloc ''En Bloc'' is a Singaporean drama produced by Mediacorp, a local TV station. Plot The drama follows the Lim family and some residents of an old Tampines Grove condominium of the consequences of having their estate up for an en bloc sale for r ...

and the feature fil
Carrotcake Conversations
Andrea was voted the world's sexiest woman in FHM Singapore's 100 Sexiest Women in the World for 2007. She won No.1 ranking for the second time in 2008, making her the first repeat winner for FHM's Top 100 Sexiest.

2009–present

Andrea was inducted into the Miss Malaysia Universe Hall of Fame in 2009,About MUMO
, retrieved 7 April 2011. recognizing her success and contribution in the regional entertainment industry. In 2010, Fonseka became the Face of the Malaysia International Fashion Week, and fronting the Fashion-TV program. Fonseka was the National Director for Miss Universe Malaysia from 2010 until 2013.Andrea Fonseka, National Director
, retrieved 7 April 2011.

Filmography

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fonseka, Andrea 1984 births Living people Malaysian beauty pageant winners Malaysian people of Chinese descent Malaysian people of Filipino descent Malaysian people of Portuguese descent Malaysian people of Spanish descent Malaysian people of Sri Lankan descent Malaysian people of Kristang descent Miss Universe 2004 contestants National University of Singapore alumni People from Penang