Oleksandra Nikolayenko-Ruffin ( uk, Олександра Ніколаєнко; born 3 July 1981 in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croa ...

) is a

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * Som ...

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

and

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lit ...

Education

She studied at the Odesa National Law Academy, and worked for Savrox Models Agency in

Odesa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern sho ...

. She takes an active part in charitable projects. She speaks

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

Pageantry

She held the "Miss Odesa", "Miss Ukraine South", "Miss Ukraine", "Miss Student", "Miss Tourism-Europe", "First vice-Miss Tourism-Planet", "Miss American Dream" and "Miss Tourism International" titles. She represented Ukraine at

Miss World 2001 Miss World 2001, the 51st edition of the Miss World pageant, was held on 16 November 2001 at the Super Bowl of Sun City Entertainment Centre in Sun City, South Africa. 93 contestants from all over the world competed for the title. Priyanka Ch ...

and placed among the top ten. Later, she was the 2004 Miss Ukraine Universe winner and represented Ukraine at

Miss Universe 2004 Miss Universe 2004, the 53rd Miss Universe pageant, was held on June 1, 2004, at the Centro de Convenciones CEMEXPO in Quito, Ecuador. Jennifer Hawkins of Australia was crowned by Amelia Vega of the Dominican Republic as her successor at the ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar language, Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechuan ...

2004. She has received more beauty awards than any other woman in Ukraine. She was invited to judge the

Miss Universe 2005 Miss Universe 2005 was the 54th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Impact Arena in Nonthaburi Province, Bangkok Metropolitan Region, Thailand on May 31, 2005,. At the end of the event, Jennifer Hawkins of Australia crowned Natalie Glebova of ...

finals in

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

Life after pageants

Donald J. Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

introduced then-72-year old

Phil Ruffin Phillip Gene Ruffin (born March 14, 1935) is an American businessman. He owns the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino and Circus Circus Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, in addition to a number of other enterprises including hotels, casinos, greyhound ...

, to Oleksandra Nikolayenko — like

Melania Trump Melania Trump ( ; born Melanija Knavs , Germanized as Melania Knauss ; born April 26, 1970) is a Slovene-American former model and businesswoman who served as First Lady of the United States from 2017 to 2021 as the wife of 45th president D ...

, a much younger former model. The couple were married in 2008 at

Mar-a-Lago Mar-a-Lago ( from the Spanish for ''sea to lake'') is a resort and national historic landmark in Palm Beach, Florida, owned by former U.S. president Donald Trump. Trump acquired Mar-a-Lago in 1985 and referred to it as his " Winter White House ...

, Mr. Trump's private club in Palm Beach, Fla., with him as best man. The men's wives are quite close, Mr. Ruffin has said, “like peas in a pod.” They have two children: Richard William Ruffin (born April 2010) and daughter Malena (born 2013).Las Vegas Journal-Review: "Ruffin, Trump pals in business, leisure" by NORM CLARKE
24 February 2013. She is currently the National Director Chairman of Miss Ukraine Universe. She also designed the "Oleksandra Spa & Salon" at the

Treasure Island Hotel and Casino Treasure Island Hotel and Casino (also known as Treasure Island Las Vegas and "TI") is a pirate-themed hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, USA. It includes 2,885 rooms and a casino. The resort is owned and operat ...

Paradise In religion, paradise is a place of exceptional happiness and delight. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical or eschatological or both, often compared to the miseries of human civilization: in paradis ...

, which is owned by her husband.

References

1981 births Beauty pageant owners Living people Miss Universe 2004 contestants Miss World 2001 delegates Models from Odesa Models from Budapest Actors from Budapest Ukrainian beauty pageant winners Ukrainian female models {{Model-stub