Jo-Ann Cindy Strauss (born 3 February 1981 in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

) is a South African model, public speaker, businesswoman and beauty pageant titleholder. In 2001 she represented her country as

Miss South Africa Miss South Africa is a national beauty pageant in South Africa that selects South African representatives to compete in one of the Big Four international beauty pageants Miss Universe. The Miss South Africa organisation resorted to a contempo ...

at the

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

pageant in

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

as well as at the

Miss World Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Mi ...

pageant hosted at Sun City in her home country in 2001. She was featured in the 2001 music video of the Irish pop group

Westlife Westlife are an Irish pop group formed in Dublin in 1998. The group consists of members Nicky Byrne, Shane Filan, Kian Egan and Mark Feehily. Brian McFadden was a member before leaving in March 2004. The group disbanded in 2012 and later reun ...

's single "

When You're Looking Like That "When You're Looking Like That" is a song by Irish boy band Westlife from their second studio album, '' Coast to Coast'' (2000). It was released on 30 July 2001 as the sixth and final single from the album in Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Latin A ...

Career

Strauss obtained her bachelor's degree at the

Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch University (SU) (, ) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant university in Sub-Sahara ...

. During her reigning year as Miss South Africa, she started her media career with the

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

TV magazine programme ''Pasella'' before anchoring the English lifestyle magazine show '' Top Billing (TV show)'', for which she has interviewed the likes of

Charlize Theron Charlize Theron ( ; ; born 7 August 1975) is a South African and American actress and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actresses, she is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. In 201 ...

Antonio Banderas José Antonio Domínguez Bandera (born 10 August 1960), known professionally as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish actor. Known for his work in films of several genres, he has received numerous accolades, including a Cannes Film Festival Award ...

and

George Clooney George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an American actor, filmmaker, and philanthropist. Known for his leading man roles on screen in both blockbuster and independent films, Clooney has received numerous accolades, including two Ac ...

. She featured as

cover girl A cover girl is a woman whose photograph is used for the front cover of magazines. She may be a model, celebrity or entertainer. The term would generally not be used to describe a person making a single, casual appearance on the cover of a magaz ...

for many South African magazines. A year after Strauss was crowned Miss South Africa, she took part in the first and only celebrity version of Celebrity Big Brother (South African TV series), where she finished runner-up. In 2010, Jo-Ann presented the opening ceremony for the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

in South Africa for the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

television network

ZDF ZDF (), short for (; ), is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Launched on 1 April 1963, it is run as an independent nonprofit institution, and was founded by all federal states of Germany ( ...

along with

Thomas Gottschalk Thomas Johannes Gottschalk (born 18 May 1950 in Bamberg) is a German radio and television host and entertainer. He is best known for hosting ''Wetten, dass..?'', for many years Europe's biggest television show, which he steered to huge success i ...

in a live broadcast from

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

on 10 June.

Social Projects

In 2008, Strauss spearheaded the Princess Project to give deserving young ladies the chance to go to their "Matric Balls" or "Proms" in designer dresses previously owned by South Africa's top celebrities. The idea behind her initiative was born of the fact that she herself went to her Matric Dance in a "previously-loved" designer dress which she bought with her mother at a second-hand store. Strauss is one of South Africa's most respected media personalities and uses her profile and influence to help various initiatives. Her Princess Project has been supported by many South African and now international stars and has given dresses to over 80 young ladies thus far with the help of SA's top magazines YOU, Huisgenoot and Drum as well as ''Top Billing''. She partnered with the International Fashion Sale in 2010 and reached even more deserving young ladies in SA. Similar initiatives exist around the world, enabling young girls to feel like modern princesses. In 2014, Strauss was appointed a Celebrity Advocate for international child rights organization, the United Nations Children's Fund (

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

) in South Africa.

Awards and achievements

*Top Achiever in Class of "1995" *Awarded the ''Duku Duku''-Award for style *Crowned Miss South Africa 2000.

References

External links

Official Web Site

Abridged German version in PDF-format
(178 KB) *
International Fashion Sale

Top Billing Official Web Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strauss, Jo-Ann 1981 births Living people Miss South Africa winners Miss Universe 2001 contestants Miss World 2001 delegates People from Cape Town South African businesspeople South African female models South African television personalities Stellenbosch University alumni UNICEF goodwill ambassadors