Miss World Namibia Steffi Van Wyk Talks On Her Miss World 2015 Experience

SHE recently returned from a month-long adventure as one of the Miss World contestants in Sanya, China. We caught up with Miss Namibia Steffi van Wyk to talk about her journey at the international pageant, her Miss World Sports win as well as the controversy surrounding her wearing gowns by a South African fashion designer at the event.

Describe your Miss World experience?
It was amazing. You’d think that with over a hundred girls spending a month around each other there’d be cat fights, but that was not the case. It was amazing to learn about different cultures and personalities and although the schedule was a test of character, the experience was amazing.

You met Miss World chairperson and owner, Julia Morely. How was that experience?
It was nice, Morely is a very good person and I got a chance to talk to her. My motto when I left for China was to network because spending a month there without networking would have been a waste of my time. Morely told me that she wants to visit Namibia and I’m hoping that she will and we can hopefully set up an event and work together when she eventually comes.

You are a professional athlete with a colourful sports background, how easy was it to win Miss World Sports?
To be honest with you, it was very easy. But I couldn’t say that. I just had to look surprised all the time when I won a challenge.
There was controversy surrounding your South African-made gowns, why was Ernst Venske part of your design team?
I studied in Bloemfontein from 2009 to 2014 and Ernst is also from there. He’s actually a good friend of mine and although people think I probably went online to search for a designer, Ernst approached me and offered to make me something for free. He didn’t design everything as other Namibian designers like Cobus Möller made my other designs while Melisa Poulton made my traditional costume. I would advise designers to in future approach the pageant or national director to be part of the design team.

What are your plans for the rest of your reign?
I need to source funding to do all that I wish to, but I’m very passionate about the youth and sports development. I also want to do some work in the fight against women and child abuse, which is a big problem in our country.