(; born 7 August 1982) is a Finnish model and singer. She has also worked in politics in her hometown. She is a member of the Finnish National Coalition Party. Vähäkangas is 5' 9¾" (1.77 m) tall. She is the daughter of Finnish and Indian parents.

Career

Born in

Oulu Oulu ( , ; sv, Uleåborg ) is a city, municipality and a seaside resort of about 210,000 inhabitants in the region of North Ostrobothnia, Finland. It is the most populous city in northern Finland and the fifth most populous in the country after: ...

to a Finnish mother and Indian father, Mäntylä began her career as a model when she was only twelve years old. She was a finalist in Miss Hawaiian Tropic Finland and Model Queen Finland when she was thirteen years old. She won the Miss Model of the World competition in 1999. At the age of seventeen, while working for the modeling agency Fashion Team, she moved to Turku. She also appeared in a music video by

Sash! Sash! (; stylised as SASH!) is a German DJ/production team, fronted by Sascha Lappessen (born 10 June 1970) who works in the recording studio with Ralf Kappmeier, Karl Xander, and Thomas "Alisson" Lüdke. They have sold over 22 million albums w ...

and Dr. Alban, titled "

Colour the World "Colour the World" is a song by German production group Sash! featuring Nigerian-Swedish recording artist and producer Dr. Alban. It was released in 1999 via Mighty, Club Tools, and Multiply Records as the fourth and final single from the group' ...

", in 1999. Mäntylä began her singing career in 2001. Her first album ''Luoksein jää'' (''Stay with me'') was released in 2002. She also performed on the TV show '' EVVK'' for MTV3 and in commercials. In the summer of 2004, Mäntylä worked as a PR hostess in

Haapamäki Haapamäki is a village in the municipality of Keuruu, Finland. It is historically an important meeting point of major railway lines, which converge at Haapamäki railway station. It is from Haapamäki to the center of Keuruu and to the city of ...

. Mäntylä moved back to her hometown of Oulu in 2004, and continued her career as a singer. She studied travel agency business and graduated in 2006. She worked in radio for a year and started her own business in late 2007.

Legal troubles

Mäntylä was convicted of aggravated drunk driving and reckless endangerment in 2006. She was sentenced to 40 days of probation and had to pay a fine. In January 2009, she announced she had changed her way of life, having given up alcohol.

Politics

Mäntylä has been a member of the Finnish political party

Kokoomus The National Coalition Party (NCP; fi, Kansallinen Kokoomus ; '; sv, Samlingspartiet; ') is a Liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative List of political parties in Finland, political party in Finland. Ideologically, the National Coalition Par ...

since she was eighteen years old. She worked as a member of the Oulu city council before announcing that she would no longer run for election, instead continuing as an employee of the party.

Personal life

In 2012, Mäntylä got engaged with Dennis Bramley, a 62-year-old retired builder from Middlesbrough, England. They got married in September 2014 and she moved in with him. The couple separated in December 2015, and now Mäntylä is partly living in Australia with her new partner, local businessman called Richard Tester. Mäntylä has also worked and lived in Greece. Mäntylä married Marko Vähäkangas on 30 June 2023 and changed her surname to Vähäkangas.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mantyla, Jasmin 1982 births Living people People from Oulu Finnish people of Indian descent National Coalition Party politicians Finnish female models 21st-century Finnish women singers Finnish expatriates in Australia Finnish expatriates in England Finnish expatriates in Greece