Czech chick, Petra Nemcova's Biography

Name : Petra Nemcova
Birth Year : 1979
Birth Place : Karvina, Czechoslovakia
Nicknamed : Czech Chick
Occupation : Model
Best Known As : Cover model for the 2003 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue

Petra Nemcova Sexy Wallpapers and Photo shoots

Nicknamed the "Czech Chick," Petra Nemcova was born on June 24, 1979 in Karviná, Czechoslovakia. Nemcova began modeling at 16 years old, after she was spotted in a national talent competition.

After dabbling in French film, Nemcova made a splash in 2003, appearing on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. Proving to be a hit in the United States, Nemcova went on to model for the covers of such magazines as Elle, Harper's Bazaar, and also appeared in advertisements for Cartier and Victoria's Secret. On June 3, 2004, Nemcova served as one of the judges at the 53rd annual Miss Universe competition.

On December 26, 2004, Nemcova and her fiancé, British photographer, Simon Atlee, were staying at the Khao Lak resort in Thailand when the deadliest tsunami in history rocked the coastal regions of Asia and Africa. Atlee did not survive; however, Nemcova, suffering a broken pelvis and serious internal injuries, clung naked to the top of a palm tree for eight hours until Thai civilians rescued the model and airlifted her to an inland hospital. After spending three weeks in the hospital, Nemcova flew home to spend an additional three weeks in hospital in the Czech Republic.

Less than three months after the disaster, Nemcova appeared with Diane Sawyer on ABC's Primetime Live, to give her first interview since the tsunami. Since then, Nemcova continues to tell her story, and has been interviewed about her ordeal by such magazines as Sports Illustrated, Harpers & Queen, Vegas, Glamour, In Style, and Self.

Following her traumatic experience in South East Asia, Petra was interviewed by Anderson Cooper on his CNN program, A.C.360. Anderson, who himslef has experienced perosnl loss and tragedy in his life was truely sympathic to the model's harrowing story.

Nemcova has founded the Happy Hearts Fund, which provides disaster relief aid to children, and receives a portion of the model’s own proceeds from fashion shoots. She has also penned her life story, Love Always, Petra, of which all proceeds go toward the Happy Hearts Fund. The book chronicles her life growing up in Czechoslovakia under Communist rule; her career in fashion; and her life with fiancee, Simon Atlee.

In sharing her story, Nemcova has changed the public’s perception of a model’s life as picture-perfect, and reflected on her own change in perspective. During an interview with Self magazine, she revealed: "Before the tsunami I was addicted to laxatives. I began taking them at the end of 2002. Eventually, I was up to six a day and feeling incredibly drained. Like many models, Id be told to lose 10 pounds, and even though I was getting a lot of positive feedback about my appearance, I wanted my stomach to be smaller. Finally I reached a point where I felt weak and exhausted, so with Simons encouragement, I started tapering from six pills to five, and so on. I took the last pills a few days before the tsunami. Now I treat my body with the respect it deserves. There’s so much suffering in the world, I don’t want to inflict more on myself for no reason."

In 2005 Petra met British singer James Blunt and a romantic liaison ensued. However, more recently, in November 2006, it was rumoured that Blunt had been spotted with Lindsay Lohan and that the relationship between him and Petra was over. Petra Nemcova has not commited to this rumour.