Leilani Dowding (born 30 January 1980)
is an English former
beauty pageant
A beauty pageant is a competition in which the contestants are judged and ranked based on various physical and mental attributes. Per its name, beauty pageants traditionally focus on judging the contestants' physical attractiveness, sometimes sol ...
titleholder and former
glamour model
A model is a person with a role either to display commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as an artist's model.
Modelling ("modeling" in American English) entails using one's body to represent someone els ...
. After winning
Miss Great Britain 1998 and representing the United Kingdom at
Miss Universe 1998
Miss Universe 1998 was the 47th Miss Universe pageant, was held on 12 May 1998 at the Stan Sheriff Arena in Honolulu, Hawaii. Wendy Fitzwilliam of Trinidad and Tobago was crowned by Brook Lee of the United States at the end of the event. Th ...
, she dropped out of college to pursue a career in glamour modelling, appearing as a
Page 3 girl in ''
The Sun
The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...
'' and featuring in men's magazines such as ''
Maxim
Maxim or Maksim may refer to:
Entertainment
*Maxim (magazine), ''Maxim'' (magazine), an international men's magazine
** Maxim (Australia), ''Maxim'' (Australia), the Australian edition
** Maxim (India), ''Maxim'' (India), the Indian edition
*Maxim ...
'' and ''
FHM''. She later appeared on US and British
reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...
programmes including ''
Tough Love Miami
''Tough Love: Miami (season 4)'' is the fourth season of the American reality television series ''Tough Love'', which first aired on VH1. The show features eight women seeking relationship advice from the host and matchmaker, Steven Ward, and ...
'' and ''
The Real Housewives of Cheshire
''The Real Housewives of Cheshire'' (abbreviated ''RHOCheshire'') is a British reality television programme that premiered on ITVBe on 12 January 2015. Developed as the first British instalment in ''The Real Housewives'' franchise, it has aired ...
''. She has become known as a conservative commentator and anti-MRNA campaigner. She also contributes to media associated with
Mark Steyn
Mark Steyn () is a Canadian author and a radio, television, and on-line presenter. He has written several books, including The New York Times Best Seller list, ''The New York Times'' bestsellers ''America Alone'', ''After America (Steyn book), A ...
.
Early life
Dowding is
multiracial
The term multiracial people refers to people who are mixed with two or more
races (human categorization), races and the term multi-ethnic people refers to people who are of more than one ethnicity, ethnicities. A variety of terms have been used ...
, with a
Filipina
Filipinos () are citizens or people identified with the country of the Philippines. Filipinos come from various Austronesian peoples, all typically speaking Filipino, English, or other Philippine languages. Despite formerly being subject to ...
mother and a British father.
She grew up in
Bournemouth
Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...
, where she attended
St Peter's Catholic School. After attaining eleven
GCSE
The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...
s and three
A-levels
The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational ...
,
she began an
economics
Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...
degree at
Royal Holloway, University of London
Royal Holloway, University of London (RH), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public university, public research university and a constituent college, member institution of the federal University of London. It ...
, with the intention of becoming a city trader.
At age 18, she entered and won the 1998
Miss Great Britain
Miss Great Britain is a national beauty contest held annually in Britain since 1945. It is Britain's longest-running beauty pageant.
History
Following World War Two, a number of seaside resorts around the United Kingdom introduced beauty cont ...
competition.
She represented Britain in 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
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
later that year.
Career
Following her success in beauty pageants, Dowding dropped out of university to pursue a full-time modelling career. She started appearing as a
Page 3
Page 3, or Page Three, was a British newspaper convention of publishing a large image of a topless female glamour model (known as a Page 3 girl) on the third page of mainstream red top tabloids. '' The Sun'' introduced the feature in Novembe ...
girl in ''
The Sun
The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...
'' in 1999.
In 2003, she was rated #89 on the
''FHM'' Sexiest Women in The World list.
Dowding has featured as a guest on various television shows, modelling on
''The'' ''Big Breakfast'' and ''
This Morning'', and appearing on ''
Faking It'', ''
Celebrity Wrestling'' and ''
Celebrity Fear Factor''. She appeared on a charity Page 3 episode of ''
The Weakest Link
''Weakest Link'' (also known as ''The Weakest Link'') is a television game show which The Weakest Link (British game show), first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and originally ended on 31 March 2012 when its host ...
,'' competing on behalf of the
RSPCA
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) is a charity operating in England and Wales which promotes animal welfare. The RSPCA is funded primarily by voluntary donations. Founded in 1824, it is the oldest and largest a ...
and breast cancer charities.
She has featured in pantomime, playing Tiger Lilly in ''
Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythical ...
''.
She has competed in celebrity poker tournaments and has done promotional work for
Ladbrokes
Ladbrokes Coral is a British gambling company. Its product offering includes sports betting, online casino, online poker, and online bingo. The Ladbrokes portion of the group was established in 1886, and Coral in 1926. In November 2016, th ...
.
Her reality television work has included the US show ''
Tough Love Miami
''Tough Love: Miami (season 4)'' is the fourth season of the American reality television series ''Tough Love'', which first aired on VH1. The show features eight women seeking relationship advice from the host and matchmaker, Steven Ward, and ...
'' and the British programme ''
The Real Housewives of Cheshire
''The Real Housewives of Cheshire'' (abbreviated ''RHOCheshire'') is a British reality television programme that premiered on ITVBe on 12 January 2015. Developed as the first British instalment in ''The Real Housewives'' franchise, it has aired ...
''. She also established her own clothing line, the Leiluna Collection. Since 2022, she has been a conservative commentator on media hosted by
Mark Steyn
Mark Steyn () is a Canadian author and a radio, television, and on-line presenter. He has written several books, including The New York Times Best Seller list, ''The New York Times'' bestsellers ''America Alone'', ''After America (Steyn book), A ...
.
Personal life
Dowding has dated a number of footballers and became known as a "
WAG" in the British tabloid press. She was engaged to former
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* W ...
and
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
defender
Mark Williams but ended their two-year relationship after he allegedly had an affair with glamour model
Linsey Dawn McKenzie. Williams and McKenzie subsequently married. Dowding was also engaged to former
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
,
West Ham
West Ham is a district in East London, England and is in the London Borough of Newham. It is an inner-city suburb located east of Charing Cross.
The area was originally an ancient parish formed to serve parts of the older Manor of Ham, a ...
and
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...
attacker
Jérémie Aliadière.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Dowding stated on twitter that "fat people cause the most strain on the NHS" and blamed them for, "making lockdown longer".
She lived in the United States for over a decade, where she was briefly married to American actor and restaurateur Richie Palmer, a former husband of actress
Raquel Welch
Jo Raquel Welch (; September 5, 1940 – February 15, 2023) was an American actress. Welch first gained attention for her role in ''Fantastic Voyage'' (1966), after which she signed a long-term contract with 20th Century Fox. They lent her con ...
.
While living in California, she began dating
Billy Duffy
William Henry Duffy (born 12 May 1961) is an English rock musician, best known as the guitarist in the band the Cult.
Early life
Duffy was born and grew up in Manchester, England. He has Irish and Jewish heritage and ancestry. He began playin ...
, lead guitarist of British rock band
the Cult
The Cult are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Bradford in 1983. Before settling on their current name in January 1984, the band had performed under the name Death Cult, which was an evolution of the name of lead vocalist Ian Astbury ...
. She became engaged to Duffy in 2020. The couple moved back to the UK and live in Manchester.
She has stated that she wishes to remain
childfree
Voluntary childlessness or childfreeness is the active choice not to have children and not to adopt children. Use of the word ''childfree'' was first recorded in 1901 and entered common usage among feminists during the 1970s. The suffix -''free' ...
.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dowding, Leilani
1980 births
Alumni of Royal Holloway, University of London
English beauty pageant winners
English people of Filipino descent
English Roman Catholics
Living people
Miss Universe 1998 contestants
Page 3 girls
People from Bournemouth
People educated at St Peter's Catholic School, Bournemouth
British anti-vaccination activists