Jenna Talackova shares life after Miss Universe on Brave New Girls
Jenna Talackova, the first transgender woman to compete in the Miss Universe Canada pageant, stars in E! reality show debuting Jan. 19
A transgender model who competed in the Miss Universe Canada pageant says she hopes her new reality show promotes acceptance of transgender people. "Brave New Girls"; follows Jenna Talackova pursuing her modelling and acting career.
Jenna Talackova wasn’t trying to become a role model for the transgender community.
The 25-year-old from Vancouver rose to fame as the first transgendered woman to compete in the Miss Universe Canada pageant in 2012, after initially being disqualified because she was not a “naturally born female.” But she didn’t set out to make waves.
“I joined the Miss Universe pageant because I was trying to find more confidence in myself, learn how to walk better, learn how to just be in front of people,” she said. “And it turned into this.”
“This” included an international media firestorm, threats of a lawsuit against the pageant owner, Donald Trump, and eventually, the elimination of the rule that kept transgender women out of Miss Universe.
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Last year, Talackova moved to Toronto to continue pursuing her dreams of modelling and acting. Her quest is the focus of Brave New Girls, a reality show on E! that premieres Sunday, Jan. 19 at 10 p.m.
As she returns to the spotlight, Talackova is coming to grips with the contradiction at the heart of her career: she doesn’t want to be defined as “the transgender girl,” but she also appreciates that she’s in a position to help others.
“There’s a huge stigma against transgender women,” she says. For instance, when the media first paid attention to her plight, “most people were just interested in, like, my genitalia.”
“But now I think people are seeing, through media and other transgender women in media, that we are normal girls and we live normal lives and we’re all the same at the end.”
Talackova was born male but says she never identified with other boys. At 14, she began living as a girl and taking hormones. At 19, she had gender reassignment surgery.
After the Miss Universe brouhaha, Talackova received a spate of reality show pitches from U.S. producers. But they didn’t “vibe with my personality.”
One example: “Her doing a dating show where in the end, the suitor finds out about how she’s different,” says Angela Perry, her older cousin and Brave New Girls co-star.
“Like, train wrecks,” Talackova says.
Instead, she wanted people to see her real life, including a move to Toronto, where she felt she would have more opportunities to build her modelling career. That real life includes two of her closest friends, Perry and Dajana Radovanovic, a fellow Miss Universe Canada contestant.
“Jenna’s not only reaching out to people who have been in her situation, who are transgender, but she’s reaching out to people who are just trying to figure themselves out, figure out who they really are,” says Radovanovic, a criminology student at York University. “If you don’t look at her message too literally and you just see that she was just somebody who was trying to figure out who she was — and she did — I feel like anyone can relate to it.”
Radovanovic provides a “voice of reason” foil to Perry’s party-girl tendencies, but both are devoted to Talackova and her career.
“I think that’s why Angela and I are so great for Jenna, because we kind of balance her out,” says Radovanovic. “So Angela will take her out . . .”
“And Dajana will take her grocery shopping,” Perry finishes, before all three burst into laughter.
Talackova’s short-term plans involve going back to school this month to finish her training as a holistic nutritionist. Long term, she aspires to model for Sports Illustrated and move to Los Angeles, but she doesn’t have a specific plan: “I’m 25. I’m still trying to find myself and concentrate on my goals and my career, and that’s what’s really important to me.”
Whatever happens, she says Brave New Girls has given her the confidence to share her story in hopes that other people can learn from it.
“One thing I love about the show is that it made me even more comfortable with exposing myself,” she says. “Now I’m much more open. As long as it’s done in a respectful manner, I’m OK.”
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Jenna Talackova, the first transgender woman to compete in the Miss Universe Canada pageant, stars in E! reality show debuting Jan. 19 - www.huffingtonpost.ca/news/jenna-
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Big News on Jenna Talackova. Includes blogs, news, and community conversations about Jenna Talackova. - ca.omg.yahoo.com/news/jenna-talackova-
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Jenna Talackova hopes 'Brave New Girls' will send message of acceptance By Victoria Ahearn, The Canadian Press | The Canadian Press – Thu, 16 Jan, 2014 5 ... Jenna Talackova - Video Results
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- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenna_Talackova CachedJenna Talackova is a Canadian model and television personality, who gained media attention in 2012 when she successfully waged a legal battle to be allowed ...
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