POLOKWANE – Azelda ‘Zelli’ van Vuuren has always been passionate about the arts and entertainment industry. Zelli (23) recently represented Limpopo by being crowned the Glow TV Miss Uniworld South Africa Miss Fitness 2019.
She enjoys balancing school with other activities and has a ton of ambition which helps her explore all facets of her personality. Born in Pretoria, Zelli relocated to Polokwane with her family when she was six-years-old and attended primary school at Oosskool and completed her matric at Hoërskool Pietersburg in 2014.
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“When I got to high school, teen bullying took a toll on me and I became depressed, had an eating disorder, inflicted self-harm and as a result stopped doing the thing I enjoyed the most, gymnastics, and went into modelling,” she added. She’s currently studying towards her bachelors degree in health and social sciences, majoring in psychological counselling at Unisa.
Zelli actually started modeling at the age of four, but when they moved to Polokwane, she put it on hold to do gymnastics. “In 2017, I decided to pursue modelling again with some of the highlights being the third and fourth annual Limpopo Fashion Week, Polokwane Fashion Show and the launch of Alfa Romeo’s new range by Mercurius Motors in 2018. I started pageant modelling in November last year,” she said.
Throughout her modelling journey, Zelli entered for Glow TV Miss Uniworld SA 2019 and made it to the top 14 (a first for Limpopo), Mr and Miss Sapa Yopa 2018, Miss Originality 2018 and Miss Originality 2018 where she won Miss Personality.
She tells BONUS that her uniqueness comes from embracing her ethnicity and encouraging the youth to do the same. This stems from being socially excluded at school for being of mixed race.
