Giselle Jeanne-Marie Laronde-West (born October 23, 1963) is a Trinidadian model and beauty queen who won the

Miss World 1986 Miss World 1986, the 36th edition of the Miss World pageant, was held on 13 November 1986 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, United Kingdom. The winner was Giselle Laronde (''Queen of Americas'') from Trinidad and Tobago. She was crowned by M ...

contest, representing

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 ...

. Walking away with the title Miss World 1986, Giselle Laronde West became the first woman from Trinidad and Tobago to be victorious in the Miss World pageant, at the age of just 23 years. She became the second woman from that nation to win an international beauty pageant, after Janelle Commissiong Miss Universe 1977. The pageant was held in London, UK. In that year, the US was represented by aspiring actress

Halle Berry Halle Maria Berry (; born Maria Halle Berry; August 14, 1966) is an American actress. She began her career as a model and entered several beauty contests, finishing as the first runner-up in the Miss USA pageant and coming in sixth in the Mi ...

Early life

Giselle was born in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. She grew up all over Trinidad but spent most of her life in San Fernando where she moved with her family at the age of 10. One of four children, she attended St. Peter's school at Pointe-à-Pierre and St. Francois Girls High School. In her early 20s, while Giselle was working at a local credit union, many of her friends and family encouraged her to enter the Miss World contest because they said she looked the part and had the personality. Giselle believed herself to be good-looking, but did not believe herself to be exceptionally gorgeous. She also considered herself a "tom-boy"; "never glamorous, never ever a girly-girl or getting her nails and hair done..." Family therefore had to prod, they encourage her to attend the Miss World auditions held in the nation's capital, Port-of-Spain, which was the last day to be eligible for the contest. When she did win the Miss World title she was surprised, more like shocked, she was full of pride and excitement and had little fear of what winning would mean for her life. Laronde think the most important factors that led her to winning were a combination of self-assurance, confidence, beauty, personality, intellect, grace, and presence. Giselle was told by one of the judges that she looked at ease on the stage and flowed when she walked.

After Miss World

After winning the Miss World title she used her prize money to attend the

Goldsmiths College Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the ...

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

where she completed a degree in

Sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...

and Communication. Laronde-West was awarded the

Chaconia Medal The Chaconia Medal is the second highest state decoration of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Established in 1969, the medal honours long and meritorious service to promote national welfare or community spirit. It is awarded in three classes: ...

and had a

BWIA BWIA West Indies Airways Limited, known locally as "Bee-Wee" and also as British West Indian Airways and BWIA International, was the national airline based in Trinidad and Tobago. At the end of operations, BWIA was the largest airline operating o ...

plane named after her. She holds a third degree black belt in Shotokan karate with SKIF, and won several medals at world championships around the world. She is married to Heathcliff West and has two sons, Kye and Kristof, who previously attended Fatima College and then her son Kristof West got accepted to Li Po Chun United World College from where he graduated in 2019. She continues to live in her homeland of Trinidad and Tobago where she is the Hospitality and Communications Manager with Angostura Ltd.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laronde, Giselle 1963 births Living people Miss World winners Miss World 1986 delegates Trinidad and Tobago female models Trinidad and Tobago beauty pageant winners Trinidad and Tobago expatriates in England Recipients of the Chaconia Medal Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London