Neha Kapur (born 31 March 1984) is an Indian model, actress, and former beauty queen who won

Femina Miss India Miss India or Femina Miss India is a national beauty pageant in India that annually selects representatives to compete in Miss World, one of the Big Four major international beauty pageants. It is organised by '' Femina'', a women's magazine ...

in 2006 and represented India at the

Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international beauty pageant that is run by a United States and Thailand based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stre ...

pageant that year. She is married to

Kunal Nayyar Kunal Nayyar (, ; born 30 April 1981) is a British actor. He portrayed Raj Koothrappali on the CBS sitcom ''The Big Bang Theory'' (2007–2019) and voiced Vijay on the Nickelodeon animated sitcom ''Sanjay and Craig'' (2013–2016). Nayyar als ...

Early life

Kapur was born in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

to a Punjabi Hindu family. She learned classical dance forms when she was very young. She has four years of training in

Bharatanatyam Bharatanatyam () is a major form of Indian classical dance that originated in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the eight widely recognized Indian classical dance forms, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas, particularly of S ...

and eight years in

Kathak Kathak ( hi, कथक; ur, کتھک) is one of the eight major forms of Indian classical dance. It is the classical dance from of Uttar Pradesh. The origin of Kathak is traditionally attributed to the traveling bards in ancient northern Ind ...

. Kapur holds a degree in

fashion design Fashion design is the Art (skill), art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction and natural beauty to clothing and its Fashion accessory, accessories. It is influenced by culture and different trends, and has varied over time and plac ...

from the

Pearl Academy Pearl Academy (formerly Pearl Academy of Fashion) is an Indian higher education institution. As of 2019 it has been owned by the for-profit education group Global University Systems. History Pearl Academy of Fashion was set up in 1993 by the ...

Career

In addition to winning the Femina Miss India Universe 2006 crown, Kapur also won the Femina Miss Fresh Face and Femina Miss Photogenic awards in the pageant.Femina Miss India's Official Website
, Retrieved 12 May 2006. Kapur represented India at the Miss Universe 2006 pageant held on 23 July in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

.Official Website of Miss Universe
Retrieved 12 May 2006. She made the semifinals to the top 20.

Personal life

In December 2011, Kapur married British actor

, who is best known for his portrayal of

Rajesh Koothrappali Rajesh "Raj" Ramayan Koothrappali, Ph.D. is a fictional character on the CBS television series ''The Big Bang Theory'', portrayed by British actor Kunal Nayyar. He is one of four characters in the show, alongside Howard Wolowitz, Sheldon Coope ...

in the TV comedy series ''

The Big Bang Theory ''The Big Bang Theory'' is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom served as executive producers on the series, along with Steven Molaro, all of whom also served as head writers. It premiered on CBS ...

''.

References

External links

Neha Kapur's Official Myspace Page
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kapur, Neha 1980s births Living people Female models from Delhi Femina Miss India winners Miss Universe 2006 contestants