Introduction
Rolene Strauss (born April 22, 1992) is a South African model and beauty queen who won Miss South Africa 2014 and was later crowned Miss World 2014 by Miss World 2013 Megan Young of the Philippines, in the finale of the 64th edition of the Miss World pageant, which was held on 14 December 2014 at the ExCeL London in London, UK defeating 120 contestants from all over the world. This was the second time that South Africa had won the title outright and the third time they had held the title. She is the chairperson of Non-Profit Entity The Strauss Foundation.
Personal life
Rolene Strauss is a medical student at the University of the Free State. She was born in Volksrust, South Africa, to Theresa, a nurse, and Hennie Strauss, a doctor. She is a test tube baby. In her own words "I’m a test tube baby and I believe my passion for health was born with me".
Rolene got engaged to D'Niel Strauss (no relation) in December 2014. They were married on Saturday, 6 February 2016, at the Laurent Wedding venue in Lourensford wine estate, Somerset West, near Cape Town.
The couple welcomed their first son in January 2017.
Pageantry
Elite Model Look South Africa 2007
She won her first beauty title at age 15, when she won the Elite Model Look South Africa in 2007 and she was the youngest contestant in the competition.
Miss South Africa 2014
Strauss placed in the top 5 of Miss South Africa 2011 when Melinda Bam became the winner. She returned three years later to compete and was crowned Miss South Africa 2014 representing the Free State city of Bloemfontein on March 30, 2014 at a ceremony held at the Sun City Superbowl, South Africa.
Miss World 2014
As the winner of Miss South Africa 2014, Rolene had been expected to compete at both Miss Universe 2014 and Miss World 2014. Traditionally, the winner of Miss South Africa competes at both international pageants. However, since she had won the Miss World 2014 contest, she could not compete at Miss Universe 2014. Ziphozakhe Zokufa, her 1st Runner-up, replaced her as Miss South Africa 2014 and represented South Africa at the Miss Universe 2014 pageant in January 2015.
After being crowned Miss World 2014, she undertook activities on behalf of her responsibilities throughout the year. During her reign she travelled to Hong Kong, China, Indonesia, India, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Mexico, Jamaica, United Kingdom and the United States.
She later passed on her crown to Mireia Lalaguna of Spain on December 19, 2015 in Sanya, China.