Diana Hayden (born 1 May 1973) is an Indian actress, television host, model and the winner of Miss World 1997 pageant. She is the third Indian woman to win the title of

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 ...

. She also won three sub-titles during the pageant and is the only

titleholder to do so. In 2008, she was a celebrity contestant in the reality show ''

Bigg Boss ''Bigg Boss'' is an Indian reality show franchise based on the Dutch reality show '' Big Brother''. It is produced by Endemol Shine India through JioStar Network. Subsequently, the various versions of the show are made internationally availabl ...

''.

Early life

Hayden was born in

Hyderabad, Telangana Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much of Hyderabad is sit ...

, India, in an

Anglo-Indian Anglo-Indian people are a distinct minority group, minority community of mixed-race British and Indian ancestry. During the colonial period, their ancestry was defined as British paternal and Indian maternal heritage; post-independence, "Angl ...

Christian family. She attended St. Ann's High School in

Secunderabad Secunderabad () is a twin cities, twin city of Hyderabad and one of the six zones of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Telangana. It is the headquarters of the South ...

. Her parents separated when she was in school and she had to start working at the age of 13. She worked for an event management company called Encore, during when she began taking up modelling assignments. At the age of 21, she worked as a

Public Relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

Officer at BMG Crescendo, where she assisted in managing the careers of singers Anaida and Mehnaz Hoosein.

Pageantry

Hayden's journey in pageantry began at the age of 23, when a friend recommended her to enter Femina Miss India. She was then shortlisted for the Femina Miss India 1997 contest. She finished second place and earned the title of Miss India World. She represented India at the 47th edition of the

pageant held in Baie Lazare, Seychelles. A total of 86 delegates competed for the title and at the end of the event, Hayden was crowned as Miss World 1997. During the question and answer segment of the competition, Hayden was asked "Why do you want to become Miss World?". She replied: Hayden was also crowned as the " Miss World - Asia and Oceania" during the Miss World contest. In addition, she won the titles ''Miss Photogenic'' and ''Spectacular Swimwear''. Hayden is the only Miss World titleholder to win three subtitles during the competition. She is the third Indian woman to win the Miss World pageant, after Reita Faria in 1966 and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in 1994. After her win at Miss World, she was signed up to endorse

L'Oréal L'Oréal S.A. () is a French multinational personal care corporation registered in Paris

, Colgate and Chopard in India. She has been associated with various charities including Child Rights and You (''CRY''),

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by a group of Environmental movement, environmental activists. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its biod ...

PETA People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA; ) is an American animal rights nonprofit organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president. Founded in March 1980 by Newkirk and animal right ...

and the Spastics Society of India. She has supported several causes to spread awareness about cancer and HIV/AIDS.

Career

Following her year as Miss World, Hayden moved to London and studied acting at the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central London ...

. She also studied at the

Drama Studio London Drama Studio London (often abbreviated as DSL) is a British drama school in London. It is accredited by the Federation of Drama Schools. The principal is Emma Lucia Hands. The Drama Studio London was started in 1966 by Peter Layton. It focus ...

, where she concentrated on the works of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

and earned a best actress nomination from the studio. In 2001, she made her screen debut in the film version of Shakespeare's ''

Othello ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'', often shortened to ''Othello'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare around 1603. Set in Venice and Cyprus, the play depicts the Moorish military commander Othello as he is manipulat ...

'' in South Africa. She hosted Miss Europe in 2001 and 2002 in Lebanon, along with Miss Lebanon 1997 and Julien Lepers. In 2005 she hosted a Television series titled ''Biography with Diana Hayden'' on The History Channel, India. Diana was signed in 2006 as the face of the Avalon Academy and currently serves as a celebrity Guest Lecturer for airline personnel training programmes. In 2008, Hayden was a wild card entry on the second season of the Indian TV show ''Bigg Boss'', and was voted off in Week 13. Hayden spent two years writing ''A Beautiful Truth'', an "encyclopedia on grooming and also deals with personality development and confidence building". It was published on 6 August 2012.

Personal life

Hayden is married to Collin Dick, an American businessman from

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

. He had been working in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

for an international NGO. In an interview, Hayden had stated that she met Dick when he came as a prospective tenant to rent her apartment. They got married in a private ceremony which was attended by their family and close friends, on 13 September 2013. The wedding took place in a country club in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. In 2016, she gave birth to a girl. The child was born from an egg that Hayden had frozen 8 years previously. In November 2017, Hayden confirmed that she was pregnant for the second time.

Controversy

In 2018, Biplab Kumar Deb, the

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

Tripura Tripura () is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a populat ...

commented on Hayden during a public speech. He questioned the rationale behind crowning Hayden as Miss World in 1997 and claimed that all international beauty pageants were a farce, since Hayden, who Deb found to be not beautiful, was crowned in 1997. Deb said, "Tell me, did she

iana The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) is a standards organization that oversees global IP address allocation, autonomous system number allocation, root zone management in the Domain Name System (DNS), media types, and other Internet P ...

deserve it? I can understand

Aishwarya Rai Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (; Rai; born 1 November 1973) is an Indian actress who is primarily known for her work in Hindi and Tamil language, Tamil films. Rai won the Miss World 1994 pageant and later established herself as one of the most-popu ...

getting it, at least she has traits of an Indian beauty." He went on to add that "for Indians,

Goddess Lakshmi Lakshmi (; , , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, , ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the goddess of wealth, fortune, prosperity, beauty, fertility, sovereignty, and abundance. She along with Parvat ...

and

Saraswati Saraswati (, ), also spelled as Sarasvati, is one of the principal Devi, goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the goddess of knowledge, education, learning, arts, speech, poetry, music, purification, language and culture. Together with the godde ...

exemplify beauty. I don't understand the beauty of Diana Hayden." Deb's remarks prompted a backlash from netizens and social activists. Hayden responded with: Deb later expressed regret and apologised for his remarks on Hayden.

Filmography

Films

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hayden, Diana 1973 births Femina Miss India winners Anglo-Indian people Indian Christians Indian beauty pageant winners Indian film actresses Living people Miss World winners Miss World 1997 delegates Actresses from Hyderabad, India Alumni of the Drama Studio London Beauty pageant contestants from Hyderabad, India Female models from Hyderabad, India