Petra Němcová

Petra Němcová born 24 June 1979 in Karviná, Czechoslovakia, now Czech Republic) is a Czech model, television host, author, and philanthropist. She is founder and chair of the Happy Hearts Fund. In December 2004, she was injured in Thailand by a tsunami resulting from the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake; her then-fiancé, photographer Simon Atlee, was killed in the tsunami. Her surname is pronounced nyehm-tsaw-va:.

Her father was a mason and her mother, a teacher. She has a sister named Olga. She became a model after being spotted at the age of 16 during a national talent search.[citation needed]

She was featured on the cover of the 2004 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and appeared in the 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006 editions.[1] In addition to working with world class photographers on her Sports Illustrated shoots, she was the object/subject of Joanne Gair's body painting work.

She has modeled for Victoria's Secret and been featured in advertising campaigns, including Cartier and Max Factor. On 3 June 2004, she was one of the telecast judges during the 53rd annual Miss Universe competition in Quito, Ecuador.

She speaks Czech, Slovak, Polish, English, French and Italian.

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