IT is not every day that beauty queens swap their sashes to get down and dirty on a muddy obstacle course. But all the Mrs South Africa semi-finalists recently did just that.
They took part in the Muddy Princess event held at the Rietvlei Zoo Farm in Alberton.
The muddy obstacle course was held on Sunday morning, March 19, and saw the beauties getting dirty as part of their journey to possibly being crowned Mrs South Africa 2017.
The South’s own Sonica de Klerk got into the thick of things, finishing the race full of mud and somehow still looking good, if you can believe it.
Sonica grew up in the Vaal Triangle and moved to Johannesburg in 2010.
She started her first company at the age of 22 and is now also the operations coordinator and instructor of the L’Oréal Institute in South Africa.
Sonica is married and has been with her husband for the last seven years.
On juggling her full-time job and preparations for this pageant, she says; “It is a challenge. You constantly feel like you are neglecting one or the other, but the personal change it brings about in you is absolutely worth it.”
Sonica is also a stylist for GHD South Africa. When she is not working, she styles at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week and other GHD-related events.
“I wasn’t a shy child, on the contrary, but as time goes by and life happens, you sometimes climb back into your shell and find expressing yourself more difficult than it once was. That happened to me. In my line of work, it is a big obstacle to overcome, as talking is something your work is based on completely.
“I was waiting for my husband at the airport one morning and I came across the advert for Mrs SA, and without giving it a second thought, I realised that by putting myself out there and forcing myself to be uncomfortable, surely I would be able to overcome this inherent fear I have of expressing myself,” says Sonica.
Only 25 women will be chosen to complete this journey after an intensive judging process that will take place at Emperors Palace from April 26 to 28.
“I am scared, excited, nervous, but most of all grateful. I have an amazing support structure behind me and it is growing every day. When I wake up now, I put on my invisible crown every morning,” says Sonica.
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