Andrea Fonseka (born 29 August 1984) is a Malaysian actress, TV host, model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned
Miss Universe Malaysia 2004. As an actress, she is currently working predominantly in
Malaysia
Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...
and
Singapore
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
.
Personal life
Andrea Fonseka was born in Penang, Malaysia, on 29 August 1984. She is of
mixed ethnic heritage. Her father is of mixed
Sinhalese (Sri Lankan),
Portuguese,
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas
**Spanish cuisine
**Spanish history
**Spanish culture
...
and
Filipino (Eurasian) descent and a native Penangite, while her mother is of
Chinese
Chinese may refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China.
**'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...
descent and
Cantonese
Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...
ancestry from
Ipoh
Ipoh (, ) is the capital city of the Malaysian States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Perak. Located on the Kinta River, it is nearly north of Kuala Lumpur and southeast of George Town, Penang, George Town in neighbouring Penang ...
,
Perak
Perak (; Perak Malay: ''Peghok'') is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kel ...
.
She is the youngest of four daughters and currently lives and works in
Singapore
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
,
Malaysia
Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...
and
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
. She studied at SMK(P) Taman Petaling (Taman Petaling Girls' National Secondary School) in
Petaling Jaya
Petaling Jaya (), colloquially referred to as "PJ", is a city in Petaling District, in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. Originally developed as a Satellite city, satellite township for Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, it is part of the G ...
during her secondary school years. She also holds a
Bachelor of Laws
A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...
from the
National University of Singapore
The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national university, national Public university, public research university in Singapore. It was officially established in 1980 by the merging of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University ...
.
Fonseka married Australian lawyer Paul Dewar on 31 July 2010, in Kuala Lumpur.
Career
Fonseka first came to the public's attention when she hosted the first season of Xfresh.tv, a teen program produced by Malaysia's
Astro TVIQ
Astro TVIQ (formerly known as TVIQ) was an English-language (formerly both hybrid language Malay-language and English-language) channel. This channel was free as it was grouped under the Astro Family package. The viewership target was for childr ...
.
In 2004, Andrea followed in her mother's footsteps,
Josephine Lena Wong
Datin Josephine Wong Jaw Leng Fonseka (born 1 January 1952) is a Malaysian former model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Malaysia Universe 1970. She represented her country at the 19th Miss Universe in Florida, United State ...
, and won the
Miss Malaysia Universe title.
[Former Miss Malaysia shares KL's best-kept shopping secret](_blank)
Felix Cheong, Asiaone
AsiaOne.com is a Singaporean news and lifestyle website and news aggregator. It is Singapore's first pure play digital content platform, serving readers primarily in Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong. AsiaOne was launched in 1995 by Singapore ...
, 18 October 2008. She subsequently represented Malaysia in
Miss Universe 2004
Miss Universe 2004 was the 53rd Miss Universe pageant, held at the Centro de Convenciones CEMEXPO in Quito, Ecuador on 1 June 2004.
At the end of the event, Amelia Vega of the Dominican Republic crowned Jennifer Hawkins of Australia as Miss U ...
, in
Ecuador
Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...
. After the pageant, Andrea relocated to
Singapore
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
to study
Law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...
at the
National University of Singapore
The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national university, national Public university, public research university in Singapore. It was officially established in 1980 by the merging of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University ...
. She graduated with a
Bachelor of Laws
A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...
from NUS in 2008. Shortly after moving to Singapore, Andrea became an ambassador for Marie France Bodyline and appeared on numerous magazine covers, including
FHM Singapore.
This exposure led her to becoming a host on
ESPN
ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
's and then suitcase girl number 10 in ''
Deal or No Deal
''Deal or No Deal'' is the name of several closely related television game shows, the first of which (launching the format) was the Dutch '' Miljoenenjacht'' (''Hunt/Chase for Millions'').
The centerpiece of this format is the final round (a ...
'' on
Mediacorp
Mediacorp Pte. Ltd. is the state media, state-owned media conglomerate of Singapore. Owned by Temasek Holdings—the investment arm of the Government of Singapore—it owns and operates television channels, radio, and digital media properties. ...
Channel 5. Following the success of Deal or No Deal, Channel 5 invited Andrea to co-host the live TV singing contes
Live The Dreamwith Utt and Michelle Chia.
Andrea subsequently moved into acting, starring in small parts in
Maggi & Me
''Maggi & Me'' () is a Singaporean fantasy situation comedy that airs on Mediacorp Channel 5. The English-language series debuted 25 July 2006 and stars Fiona Xie and Adrian Pang in the title roles. The series wrapped up its season 1 finale on ...
and
Parental Guidance, and then landing major roles in Housemates, the channel 5 drama
En Bloc
En bloc means "all together". It may refer to:
* '' En Bloc'', a Singaporean television drama
* A type of ammunition loading in firearms
{{disambiguation ...
and the feature fil
Carrotcake Conversations
Andrea was voted the world's sexiest woman in FHM Singapore's 100 Sexiest Women in the World for 2007. She won No.1 ranking for the second time in 2008, making her the first repeat winner for FHM's Top 100 Sexiest.
2009–present
Andrea was inducted into the Miss Malaysia Universe Hall of Fame in 2009,
About MUMO
, retrieved 7 April 2011. recognizing her success and contribution in the regional entertainment industry. In 2010, Fonseka became the Face of the Malaysia International Fashion Week, and fronting the Fashion-TV program.
Fonseka was the National Director for Miss Universe Malaysia from 2010 until 2013.[Andrea Fonseka, National Director ](_blank)
, retrieved 7 April 2011.
Filmography
Notes
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fonseka, Andrea
Malaysian people of Kristang descent
People from Ipoh
Malaysian people of Cantonese descent
1984 births
Living people
Malaysian beauty pageant winners
Malaysian people of Portuguese descent
Malaysian people of Filipino descent
Malaysian people of Spanish descent
Malaysian people of Sri Lankan descent
Malaysian people of Chinese descent
Miss Universe 2004 contestants
National University of Singapore alumni
People from Penang