Wendy Marcelle Fitzwilliam (born 4 October 1972) is a Trinidadian lawyer, actress, model, singer, TV Host and beauty queen who won

Miss Trinidad and Tobago Universe Miss Universe Trinidad & Tobago is a beauty pageant held annually since 1963, a year after Trinidad & Tobago's independence from the United Kingdom. The contest is meant to select a suitable delegate from both islands to compete in the Miss Uni ...

1998 became the second

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 St ...

in history from

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

and was the third woman of African heritage to capture the Miss Universe crown.

Early life

Fitzwilliam has one sister. She grew up in Jade Gardens Diamond Vale, Diego Martin and attended Diego Martin Girls R.C before attending St. Joseph's Convent in

Port of Spain Port of Spain ( Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a muni ...

, she also studied Law.

Miss Universe

Fitzwilliam modeled for local fashion designer Meiling in her teenage and early years. She won

Miss Universe Trinidad and Tobago Miss Universe Trinidad & Tobago is a beauty pageant held annually since 1963, a year after Trinidad & Tobago's independence from the United Kingdom. The contest is meant to select a suitable delegate from both islands to compete in the Miss Uni ...

. At age 25, she participated in the 1998 Miss Universe pageant held at the Stan Sheriff Center in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the isla ...

, Hawaii. She beat off challenges from the other semifinalists: Top 10 semifinalists Anna Malova of

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

, Andrea Roche of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

, Kerishnie Naicker of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

, Lymaraina D'Souza of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

and Michella Marchi of

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, Top 5 finalists Silvia Ortiz of

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the ...

and

Shawnae Jebbia Shawnae Nicole Jebbia (born September 13, 1971) is an American entertainer and beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss USA 1998. Jebbia won the Miss Massachusetts USA title in 1997, in her first attempt at a pageant title. She went on to repres ...

of USA, eventual 2nd Runner-Up Joyce Giraud of

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

, and eventual 1st Runner-Up

Veruska Ramírez Veruzhka Tatiana Ramírez (born July 30, 1979) is a Venezuelan beauty pageant titleholder who was Miss Venezuela 1997 and winner of the Best in Swimsuit award and first runner-up to Miss Universe 1998. Miss Venezuela 1997 Ramirez was abandoned a ...

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. Fitzwilliam's regal air and perfect evening gown presentation won her the favor of the judges and made her the favorite to capture the crown that night. However, once the final 3 were announced, the final answer portion led people to suspense, since there was a deadlock between her and Ramirez of

who had won the swimsuit competition with the highest score ever seen at the time. Because there were eight members on the panel of

judges A judge is an official who presides over a court. Judge or Judges may also refer to: Roles *Judge, an alternative name for an adjudicator in a competition in theatre, music, sport, etc. *Judge, an alternative name/aviator call sign for a membe ...

and no way to break an eventual tie, the decision promised to be a nail-biter. In the end, Fitzwilliam prevailed and became the first contestant in history to win wearing a bikini in the swimsuit competition, denying Ramírez that title as well. Her win came 21 years after another Trinidadian, Janelle Commissiong, who also happened to be the first Miss Universe of African heritage, captured in 1977 the crown for her

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whi ...

for the first time. Fitzwilliam is, thus, the second titleholder from

and the third of African heritage, after Commissiong and

biracial Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-ethn ...

Chelsi Smith of the United States. During her reign, she was honored by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

and bestowed the title of UNAIDS and UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador for her work in

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

education and awareness. Her dedication to the HIV/AIDS cause also led her to found The Hibiscus Foundation (THF) in Trinidad and Tobago on 6 September 1998. This organization was established to heighten AIDS awareness in Trinidad and Tobago and to give assistance, financially and otherwise, to children's homes in Trinidad. She was the international spokesperson for Clear Essence Skin Care and made several notable television appearances having hosted segments of "Wild On…" for E! Entertainment Television and the Miss Universe Special for the same network. She made appearances on " Live with Regis and Kathy Lee", "The Magic Hour", "Politically Incorrect", "

The O’Reilly Factor ''The O'Reilly Factor'' (originally titled ''The O'Reilly Report'' and also known as ''The Factor'') is an American cable television news and talk show. ''The O'Reilly Factor'' first aired in the United States on Fox News Channel on October 7 ...

", CNN’s "Talk Back Live", Trinidad and Tobago Carnival" for BET, "The Johnny Cockran Show" on Court TV, Soca Monarch Finals for CNMG with Danny Glover and

Chris Tucker Christopher Tucker (born August 31, 1971) is an American actor and comedian. Tucker made his debut in 1992 as a stand-up performer on the HBO comedy series ''Def Comedy Jam'', where he frequently appeared on the show during the 1990s. He appe ...

, among others.

After Miss Universe

After her reign, she recorded a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

demo and continued her education. In 2000, she was admitted into the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar ( ...

. Fitzwilliam has also acted as a judge and host for many regional and international pageants, such as

Miss Guyana Miss (pronounced ) is an English language honorific typically used for a girl, for an unmarried woman (when not using another title such as "Doctor" or "Dame"), or for a married woman retaining her maiden name. Originating in the 17th century, i ...

Miss Trinidad and Tobago The Miss Trinidad & Tobago Pageant is a beauty pageant that has been held annually since 1954. The contest is meant to select a suitable delegate from the twin island republic, to compete in the Miss World pageant. The nation has one Miss World, Mi ...

and

. She was the Vice President of Investment Promotion at the ''Evolving TecKnologies and Enterprise Development Company Limited'' (E TecK), a state-owned company in Trinidad and Tobago. She is also attached to the

Trinidad Guardian The ''Trinidad and Tobago Guardian'' (together with the ''Sunday Guardian'') is the oldest daily newspaper in Trinidad and Tobago. The paper is considered the newspaper of record for Trinidad and Tobago. History Its first edition was published ...

's ''Guardian in Education: Making a Difference'' project, a series of motivational school tours that also features former World Champion sprinter

Ato Boldon Ato Jabari Boldon (born 30 December 1973) is a Trinidadian former track and field athlete, politician, and four-time Olympic medal winner. He holds the Trinidad and Tobago national record in the 50, 60 and 200 metres events with times of 5.64 ...

and cyclist Michael Phillips, aiming to promote the development of the country's diversity. She was appointed the

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

Ambassador of Youth for the Caribbean. Wendy is also referenced in the 2016 DJ Bravo Song "Champion", which gained cult status following the victory of the West Indies cricket team in the

2016 ICC World Twenty20 The 2016 ICC World Twenty20 was the sixth edition of the ICC World Twenty20, the world championship of Twenty20 International cricket. It was held in India from 8 March to 3 April 2016, and was the first edition to be hosted by India. Seven ...

tournament. She is one of the judges of the reality television competition '' Caribbean's Next Top Model''.

Personal life

Fitzwilliam gave birth to her son, Ailan Andrew Panton in June 2006. She separated from his father, David Panton, in 2008. She currently resides in her native Trinidad and Tobago with her son.

References

External links

Official Website
(

Adobe Flash Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash and FutureSplash) is a multimedia software platform used for production of animations, rich web applications, desktop applications, mobile apps, mobile games, and embedded web browser video players. Flash ...

) {{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzwilliam, Wendy 1972 births Living people Miss Universe 1998 contestants Miss Universe winners Recipients of the Chaconia Medal Trinidad and Tobago beauty pageant winners Trinidad and Tobago female models Trinidad and Tobago women lawyers University of the West Indies alumni 21st-century Trinidad and Tobago lawyers