Melinda Bam (born 13 May 1989) is a South African TV Personality, presenting popular TV show Pasella & Wies Jou Poppie (season 1–3), international model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss South Africa 2011, becoming the official representative of 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, while ...

Miss Universe 2012 Miss Universe 2012 was the 61st Miss Universe pageant, held at the PH Live at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States on December 19, 2012. At the end of the event, Leila Lopes of Angola crowned Olivia Culpo of t ...

. She has a swimwear line called Bambshell, for which she worked with

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

n swimwear brand.

Early life

Melinda Bam (born Melinda de Kock) was raised in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foot ...

. Her father, Deon de Kock, was a minister of the Dutch Reformed Church who took his own life in 1999 after he and Melinda's mom, gospel singer Wanda de Kock, were divorced earlier in the year. He had only served one congregation, Glenharvie, which merged with Westonaria in 1996, where after he was retrenched. Melinda was born in 1989 and has two sisters, Melissa Swart and Sybil Bam. She is a model and studied B.Com. Marketing at the

University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria ( af, Universiteit van Pretoria, nso, Yunibesithi ya Pretoria) is a multi-campus public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa. The university was established in 1908 ...

. She entered Miss South Africa 2011 and won the pageant on her first attempt.

Miss South Africa 2011

She was crowned Miss South Africa 2011 at an event held at the Sun City Super Bowl on 11 December 2011.

Miss Universe 2012

Melinda Bam represented South Africa in December at

, which was held in Las Vegas, and placed among the top 10. She did not participate in the

Miss World 2012 Miss World 2012, the 62nd edition of the Miss World pageant, was held on 18 August 2012 at Dongsheng Fitness Center Stadium in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, China. 116 contestants from all over the world competed for the crown. Ivian Sarcos of Venez ...

pageant because if a contestant reaches the top three of the pageant she is not permitted to enter Miss Universe. The 1st princess Remona Moodley represented South Africa at Miss World 2012 instead.

Miss South Africa National Executive

In June 2013 it was announced that Melinda Bam was appointed as National Executive for the Miss South Africa Pageant, and she would be in charge of arranging potential sponsors for the pageant, as well as preparing the outgoing queens to both the Miss World and Miss Universe pageants. Her management proved successful and partly due to her guidance, secured the crown for 2014 Miss World titleholder

Rolene Strauss Rolene Strauss (born 22 April 1992) is a South African beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss South Africa 2014 and was later crowned Miss World 2014. She is the third South African woman to be crowned Miss World, after Penelope Anne Coelen in ...

Personal life

Her family name is of German origin. However, Bam is also a Xhosa name, making the public mistake her for a Xhosa girl before she won the title. Bam announced in November 2013 that she is engaged to Mr South Africa 2011, Adriaan Bergh. The two former beauty pageant title carriers got engaged during a holiday in Dubai. They were married in November 2014 at Oakfield Farm, Gauteng, South Africa.

References

External links

*
Official Melinda Bam Page on Facebook

Official Miss South Africa website
1989 births Living people Afrikaner people South African people of German descent Miss South Africa winners University of Pretoria alumni Miss Universe 2012 contestants People from Pretoria South African beauty pageant winners {{Pageant-bio-stub