Olamide Adeleke is an ex-beauty queen who is currently championing the Most Beautiful Yoruba Girl pageant. In this interview with ROTIMI IGE, she speaks about her journey so far, why models should been seen more as intellectuals and her reasons for hosting her own pageant.
Tell us a bit about yourself and how you got into beauty pageantry.
I’m Queen Olamide Adeleke.. I’m a commercial model, content creator, an entrepreneur and ex beauty queen. I’m an undergraduate at the prestigious University of Ilorin.
How did your modeling/pageantry career start?
I started my modeling career in 2017 and along the way, got interested in beauty and pageantry. I was encouraged to enter for contests and I won the Most Beautiful Lady in Nigeria (East) on the 16th of November, 2018 in Abuja.
Also, I won the Elite Vibez Awards model of the year 2020. I was recently honoured with Creative Faith Academy honorary award on the fifth of June in Lagos.
Now, I’m the convener of the Most Beautiful Yoruba Girl pageant which is my present project.
Many believe that it only takes a beautiful lady to do what you do? Is there more to you than meets the eye?
Apart from modeling/pageantry, I like writing, reading books, travelling, meeting new people, thinking and listening to music. My favourite motto is, “Your age, height, shape size or colour is not and should not be a barrier to your success”.
Sure, there is more than what meets the eyes as far as I am concerned. Being a model/pageant girl is not just about being ‘good looking or pretty’. There are a lot of beautiful people in the world. Asides from being beautiful, I’m exceptional, very confident and I know what I want. Knowing what someone wants is very important in the industry; if you don’t know what you want, you might end up trying different things and not achieving any.
You are also in school. How do you juggle your responsibilities as a beauty queen and a student?
Hmm, It’s a very big task. It’s not as easy as it looks and there are no easy ways out. I stay close to people in similar situation. I eliminate unnecessary things and remain focused. Being focused has been helping me. I have been juggling the two very well.
Tell us about your latest project.
It is the Most Beautiful Yoruba Girl pageant, initiated by Rosamide entertainment, a registered and fast growing entertainment brand. The most Beautiful Yoruba Girl pageant is dedicated to promoting the most exceptional Yoruba ladies and preserving the Yoruba culture. On the fourth of July, 2021, we will be crowning the most exceptional Yoruba lady with strong interest in humanitarian projects, education and the Yoruba at Jogor event centre Ibadan.
The Most Beautiful Yoruba Girl Pageant is endorsed by His Imperial Majesty, Oba Saliu Adetunji, Olubadan of Ibadan land.
What do you hope to achieve with this?
I hope to achieve many things including bringing different Yoruba ladies together to represent past and present icons in Yoruba land and showcase the culture to the world. I hope to be able to join the thousands of people promoting and preserving the Yoruba culture. I hope to be able to impact the society through the platform. I also hope to be able to do better things for myself and people around me through the platform.
What is your greatest challenges as a beauty queen?
I used to find everything challenging until I learned how to embrace failure. I see failure as part of success, without failing, you may likely not succeed. I failed fast and embraced it, ever since then, nothing is challenging. I embrace all situations and think of a way forward.
Who is funding your passion/initiative?
I don’t have any sponsor except my parents. My parents do the little they can do to support me, they have always been supporting me, right from the start.
I’m using this medium to say thank you to them! Thank you for being my number one fans/supporters. May you live long to reap the fruit of your labour.
What are your future aspirations?
I want to be a Miss World or Universe and a very popular and hard-working actress. I’m looking forward to participating in the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria Pageant, it’s the second thing to the Miss World/Universe journey. I’m also looking forward to being a great commercial model that is going to work with big brands.
I’m also looking forward to starting a career in acting. The future is bright and the future is now. May God help me.
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