SI Girl

Background:

Czech supermodel Petra Nemcova became famous as the cover model of the 2003 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. In addition to her work for SI, she has created a reputation as a flourishing model with appearances in Harper’s Bazaar, Stuff, Elle, Madame Figaro, and Victoria’s Secret. She has also done promotions for Cartier, Max Factor and La Perla.

In 2004, Petra made headlines while vacationing with her boyfriend, British fashion photographer Simon Atlee, in the Khao Lak resort in Thailand during the Christmas holiday season. Their cabin was swept away by the deadly tsunami, leaving the Czech supermodel holding on to a palm tree for eight hours before finally being rescued and taken to a hospital to treat a broken pelvis and some internal injuries. Ironically, Atlee is still believed missing (as of January 4, 2005). She has recently received a “Survivor Award” from Glamour magazine for the tsunami tribulation, and how the attractive young lady picked up her life since then.

Romantically speaking, 5-foot-10-inch Petra has been involved with British musician James Blunt (born on February 22, 1977). Pictures of Petra and her singer-song writer beau together in Ibza were published online in early June 2006. A month later, Petra verified that she and Blunt are a couple.


Czech Chick

Childhood and Family:

A native of Karvina, Czech Republic, Petra Nemcova, whose nickname is Czech Chick, was born on June 24, 1979. She began her modeling career after a modeling agent discovered the brown-haired beauty on the street of her native country. Under Next Agency’s wing, Petra’s career soon took flight.


Love Always, Petra

Career:

Born and raised in Karvina, in the Czech Republic, Petra Nemcova has acquired the fashion world by storm. From the time when a modeling scout spotted her on the street of her homeland, she appears to be splashed in each advertisement and magazine layout.

The Next agency model, however, did not hit supermodel stardom until she began a fruitful affiliation with Sports Illustrated. First landing the opportunity to model “swimsuits” for the 2002 Issue, the brown-eyed beauty acquired even more attention when she was featured on the cover of the 2003 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. A year before, when she made her first American TV appearance in “The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn,” the fanatical host predicted that she would make the cover of SI’s 2003 edition, and he was right.

Besides her work for SI, Petra added her fame by gracing the pages of Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, Stuff, and the French model Madame Figaro. She also has done numerous advertising campaigns, including for La Perla, Max Factor, and Cartier, and has modeled for Victoria’s Secret, and for countless other companies in the women’s clothing market.

Following the coveted gig, Petra was invited to appear in many TV shows, including in two episodes of “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” (2003) and three episodes of “The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn” (2003, 2004). She also took part in a documentary miniseries titled “Tribeca Film Festival Presents” (2003), playing herself opposite popular actors like Robert De Niro, Alan Cumming and Edie Falco.

In 2004, Petra attracted public’s interest for being one of survivors during the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. She was at the Khao Lak resort in Thailand with her main photographer and fiancé, Simon Atlee, when a tsunami struck where they were staying. She suffered a broken pelvis and serious internal injuries, but her partner was killed by drowning. Considering herself “lucky to be alive,” the model agreed to pose in her hospital bed for US Weekly, after the magazine agreed to give $ 200,000 to the Asian tsunami aid efforts.

A year after the disaster, Petra had her first interview with Diane Sawyer on the ABC “Primetime Live” on March 9, 2005. She also shared her near-death experience on the “Coady Read Live” program on CNN television. At the end of the year, she published “Love Always, Petra,” a book telling about her early life under Communist regulation in Czechoslovakia, her entrance into the world of fashion and modeling, and her step forward into Sports Illustrated. Additionally, she also wrote her life with Simon Atlee and how the two were in love and became engaged to marry.

Recently, the recipient of Glamour magazine’s “Survivor Award” made an auspicious comeback with her appearance in the 2006 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. The same year, she was also seen in talk shows “The Tyra Banks Show” and “Howard Stern on Demand.”


Awards:
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