Roshanara Ebrahim (born 15 October 1993) is a Kenyan TV host, model, author and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Universe Kenya 2021. As Miss Universe Kenya, she represented Kenya at

Miss Universe 2021 Miss Universe 2021 was the 70th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Universe Dome in Eilat, Israel on 13 December 2021. At the end of the event, Harnaaz Sandhu of India was crowned Miss Universe 2021 by Andrea Meza of Mexico. It was India's f ...

. Ebrahim had previously been crowned ''Mr. and Mrs. Universities 2014'', Miss World Kenya 2016 (but was dethroned) and Miss Supermodel International Kenya 2018.

Personal life

Early life, family background and education

Roshanara was born in

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

. She is of

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

- Somali descent, through her Persian father Mahmood Ebrahim, who is from

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, and Somali mother Fatou Spirou, who grew up in Kenya. Although born in Nairobi, she grew up in Mombasa where her parents relocated to as they were in the gemstone business. In 2005, she attended Light Academy in Nairobi, and in 2006, she began attending Doon International School in

Dehradun Dehradun (), also known as Dehra Doon, is the winter capital and the List of cities in Uttarakhand by population, most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous Dehradun district, d ...

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand (, ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. The state is bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the n ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. In 2011, she interned at Aga Khan Hospital in

Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital status in 1907. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

, Kenya. From 2011 to 2015, she studied international law and legal studies at the

University of Nairobi The University of Nairobi (uonbi or UoN; ) is a college, collegiate research university based in Nairobi and is the largest List of universities and colleges in Kenya, university in Kenya. Although its history as an educational institution dat ...

. Roshanara's brother Zul Ebrahim was the winner of ''Mr. Mombasa County 2016'' and participated in the ''Mr. World Kenya 2016'' contest.

Heritage

On December 3, 2021, Roshanara revealed her ancestral dna after having taken a ''MyHeritage DNA'' test from Miss Universe 2021's official sponsor

MyHeritage MyHeritage is an online genealogy platform with web, mobile, and Genealogy software, software products and services, introduced by the Israeli company MyHeritage in 2003. Users of the platform can obtain their family trees, upload and browse thro ...

, an online genealogy platform. According to MyHeritage, Miss Universe Kenya 2021 Roshanara Ebrahim has the most diverse heritage of all Miss Universe 2021 contestants. The test revealed she is of 34.2% Somali, 33.7% South Asian (including

East Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...

n), 7%

North African North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

, 3.6% West Asian (modern day

and

Turkic peoples Turkic peoples are a collection of diverse ethnic groups of West Asia, West, Central Asia, Central, East Asia, East, and North Asia as well as parts of Europe, who speak Turkic languages.. "Turkic peoples, any of various peoples whose members ...

), 10.8%. Middle Eastern (

Abrahamic The term Abrahamic religions is used to group together monotheistic religions revering the Biblical figure Abraham, namely Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The religions share doctrinal, historical, and geographic overlap that contrasts them wit ...

- Semitic -

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

), 4.2% Irish,

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

, and Welsh, 1% Melanesian (

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

), 3.3%

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was derived from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jo ...

, 0.9% Sierra Leonian and 1.3%

Inuit Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...

(

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

) heritage.

Career

Roshanara Ebrahim also goes by the nickname ''Roshanara Love''.

Modelling

Early Modeling and varia

Roshanara Ebrahim started modelling while she was a student at the University of Nairobi. From November 2012 to December 2014, she was a ''Strut it Afrika'' model. In January 2013, she became a ''Muse Limited'' director.

Professional Modeling and brand ambassador

In 2017, she joined ''Boss Models South Africa'' in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

Western Cape The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. She was a ''Rohto Mentholatum K Ltd.'' brand ambassador from January 2017 to August 2017, the chief executive officer of ''World Indigenous Model Search'' in February 2017. In 2018, she joined ''Full Circle Model Management'' in Cape Town and Ice Models Johannesburg in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

Gauteng Gauteng ( , ; Sotho-Tswana languages, Sotho-Tswana for 'place of gold'; or ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts f ...

, South Africa. In the same year, she became an ''African Grassroot Hoops'' brand ambassador. She was commissioned to strut for high-end luxury South African brand Maxhosa in the

New York Fashion Week New York Fashion Week (NYFW), held in February and September of each year, is a semi-annual series of events in Manhattan typically spanning seven to nine days when international Fashion design, fashion collections are shown to buyers, the pres ...

in August, 2019. Gracing the runway with

Oluchi Onweagba Oluchi Onweagba-Orlandi (born 1 August 1980) is a Nigerian model based in New York City. Growing up in the suburbs of Lagos, she won "The Face of Africa" contest at the age of 16. Early life Onweagba (a native of Isuikwuato, Abia State) gr ...

Young Paris Milandou Badila (born September 13, 1988), known professionally as Young Paris, is a Congolese singer-songwriter, born in Paris and raised in New York. He signed to Jay-Z's Roc Nation in 2016. Biography Badila was born in Paris on September ...

Miss Universe 2019 Miss Universe 2019 was the 68th Miss Universe pageant, held at Stage 1 of Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, United States on 8 December 2019. At the end of the event, Zozibini Tunzi of South Africa was crowned as Miss Universe 2019 by ...

Zozibini Tunzi and

Demi-Leigh Tebow Demi-Leigh Tebow ( ; née Nel-Peters; born 28 June 1995) is a South African model and beauty queen best known for winning the title of Miss Universe 2017. She was crowned Miss South Africa 2017, and the second Miss Universe winner from South ...

, Atandwa Kani from Black Panther, Aminat Ayinde from

America’s Next Top Model ''America's Next Top Model'' (abbreviated ''ANTM'' and ''Top Model'') is an American reality television series and interactive competition in which a number of aspiring models compete for the title of "America's Next Top Model" and a chance to b ...

and other superstars.

Zikomo Africa Awards

Roshanara Ebrahim was voted by Peoples's choice as Africa's ''Best Model of the month'' on December 28, 2021, by the Zambia-based Zikomo Africa Awards.

Pageantry

Mr. and Mrs. Universities 2014

Roshanara Ebrahim won the ''Miss Nairobi University 2014'' contest, which earned her an entry to ''Mr. and Mrs. Universities 2014'' which she also won.

Miss World Kenya 2016

After winning ''Miss Nairobi County 2016'', Roshanara Ebrahim was crowned

Miss World Kenya Miss World Kenya is a national pageant in Kenya to represent Kenya at Miss World. History In 2005 Miss World Kenya took on a positive turn under the management of Ashleys Kenya Limited starting a journey of status restoration and reinvigoratio ...

in 2016, but was stripped off her title following a series of controversies. She was replaced by Evelyn Njambi the then reigning 'Miss Kiambu'. After losing her crown, Roshanara was embroiled in a lawsuit after her ex-boyfriend ( Frank Zahlten) leaked her nude photos, culminating in her being 'dethroned' of the Miss Kenya title. Following this, Roshanara sued her ex-boyfriend and the Miss Kenya organiser – Ashleys Kenya. On October 7, 2016, Mr. Apollo Mboya, Frank Zahlten's lawyer accused Roshanara of having abducted Frank and of being an alcoholic who had no integrity to hold the crown. Roshanara set the judicial precedent for the right to digital privacy against

revenge porn Revenge porn is the distribution of sexually explicit images or videos of individuals without their consent, with the punitive intention to create public humiliation or character assassination out of revenge against the victim. The material ma ...

in Kenya. A high court ruling delivered on December 7, 2016, ruled in favour of Roshanara, concluding that non consensual circulation of intimate images was a gross human rights issue, and that it breached the right to one's privacy under Article 31 (c) of Kenya's Constitution. The third respondent, Frank Zahlten (Roshanara's ex-boyfriend), was required to pay the petitioner (Miss Kenya) $10,000 in damages, for breach of her right to privacy. But she was not able to regain the Miss World Kenya 2016 title, which was given to her runner-up Evelyn Njambi, who finished in the Top 5 at Miss World 2016.

Miss Supermodel International Kenya 2018

Roshanara Ebrahim auditioned for and won the ''Miss Supermodel International Kenya 2018'' contest. And represented Kenya in China. In December 2018, Roshanara travelled to

Huizhou Huizhou ( zh, c= ) is a city in east-central Guangdong Province, China, forty-three miles north of Hong Kong. Huizhou borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou to the west, Shenzhen and Dongguan to the southwest, Shaoguan to the north, Hey ...

Guangdong Province ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. Where she participated in the World Supermodel All Star Championships. The seriousness of the show could be questioned as not a single international model made it to the final. And only won by an all Chinese podium.

Miss Universe Kenya 2021

Roshanara Ebrahim participated in the ''Miss Universe Kenya 2018'' contest but didn't make it through to top 20. She tried again in 2021. And on October 25, 2021. The

Miss Universe Kenya Miss Universe Kenya is a national pageant in Kenya that was first held in 2002, and an annual national contest to choose ambassador for the Miss Universe pageant. Miss Universe Kenya is not related to the previous Miss World Kenya or Miss Ken ...

organization announced Roshanara was among the top ten semifinalist contestants for ''Miss Universe Kenya 2021''. On October 30, 2021, she was crowned ''

2021''. Roshanara represented

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

at 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 ...

2021'' the ''70th Miss Universe pageant'', on December 13, 2021, in

Eilat Eilat ( , ; ; ) is Israel's southernmost city, with a population of , a busy port of Eilat, port and popular resort at the northern tip of the Red Sea, on what is known in Israel as the Gulf of Eilat and in Jordan as the Gulf of Aqaba. The c ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

Miss Universe 2021

On November 27, 2021, Roshanara left for Israel to participate in the ''

2021'' contest. On day 3 of the Miss Universe competition, she was selected together with 9 other contestants to take part in the ''Haboydem Fashion Show'' in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. On December 10, 2021, Roshanara participated in the Preliminary Competition (Swimsuit & Evening Gown) and the National Costume Show, but was unplaced in the December 13, 2021 Final Competition.

Kenyan Pageant Record

Roshanara Ebrahim is the first Kenyan pageant contestant to have won the

, Miss Supermodel International Kenya and

contests.

Other professions

International relations & diplomacy training

In March 2012, she was a ''Kenyan

Model United Nations Model United Nations, also known as Model UN (MUN), is an educational simulation of the United Nations, which teaches students about diplomacy, international relations, global issues, and how the United Nations is run. During a model UN confe ...

delegate''. From July 2013 to August 2013, she was a ''European International

'' delegate. And she served as chairperson for BITSMUN Pilani in February 2014 and for the ''Everest International

'' in October 2014.

Legal profession

In November 2020, she became ''MMA Advocates LLP‘s'' head of business development.

Charity work and advocacy

From September 2014 to December 2015, she was a

Kenya Red Cross Society The Kenya Red Cross is one of the many International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement societies around the world. The Kenya organisation was established in 1965. The Kenya Red Cross supports and runs a number of projects whilst raising awarenes ...

assistant project manager. and in 2015, she interned at the Kenya Red Cross Society branch in Parklands, Nairobi. In 2016, after the Miss World Kenya contest she joined ''

Smile Train Smile Train is a nonprofit organization and charity providing corrective surgery for children with cleft lips and palates. Headquartered in New York City and founded in 1999, Smile Train provides free corrective cleft surgery in 87 countries, ...

Kenya'' as an ambassador. And on December 11, 2021, she reaffirmed at the Miss Universe 2021 contest in Israel her commitment to continue her work with Smile Train.

Television and entertainment

In 2015 she worked for ''6:AM Entertainment Kenya'' as an event organizer. After the Standard Group announced her employment on one of their shows, Roshanara was a co-host alongside Sara Ndanu, who has been holding down the fort since its inception. An announcement was made on October 22, 2016, that she will be joining ''The Skin Therapy Show'' on KTN Home. She hosted “The Skin Therapy Show” from January 2017 to July 2018.

QHHT practitioner

On May 26, 2019, she became a QHHT practitioner. And in April 2020, she founded ''Jade Rituals'' in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. On May 27, 2021, her book “Beyond The Darkness: The Strategic Guide to the New Earth” was independently published. A book based on spirituality, self help and a happiness guide which elaborates on deep esoteric concepts with a touch of her life experiences.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ebrahim, Roshanara 1993 births Kenyan beauty pageant winners Kenyan female models Kenyan feminists Kenyan people of Iranian descent Kenyan people of Somali descent Kenyan television personalities Living people Miss Universe 2021 contestants People from Nairobi University of Nairobi alumni