Poised to perfection in her stunning, glittery silver dress, Caroline Jurie brought back glory to the country when she became the second Sri Lankan woman to be crowned Mrs World 2020 last week. Fifty one from across the far corners of the world assembled last Saturday for the crowning of the new queen and by sheer commitment and determination Caroline Jurie was able to steal the limelight that evening, making the authentic tropical brown-skinned beauties proud.
“It was truly a miracle and that moment still seems surreal to me” recalling her glorious moment Caroline told the Sunday Observer.
Explaining the tough selection process of Mrs World 2020 Caroline said the initial 51 contestants were narrowed down to 20 semi-finalists during a closed-door competition prior to Saturday’s grand finale held in Las Vegas, Nevada – USA. Following a series of traditional pageant-style events including the ever-popular swimsuit and glamorous evening gown rounds, Caroline got the first hint of victory by being selected to the top 10 and thereafter the top three with Mrs Ireland and Mrs US Virgin Islands. Caroline Jurie was able to inherit the crown from last year’s winner Jennifer Le, who took to the stage towards the end of the night to announce her successor.
“When they announced Mrs Sri Lanka as Mrs World, for a few seconds I couldn’t believe my ears, this is truly a miracle of God and finally my childhood prayer had been answered,” Caroline said.
Hailing from a middle class Christian family as the third child with two elder brothers and a younger sister, 27 year old Caroline was born and bred in Kandana.
She studied at St. Sebastian’s Girls’ School Kandana, where she was an average student who showed extraordinary talent in sports. She was a common sight in the school netball court where she spent almost all her school life. “I was an average student at school, but I was very good in sports and spent every possible hour in the netball court during my school days,” Caroline recalls with her graceful smile.
Caroline was the black sheep of the family. She could never picture herself as an ordinary girl. “I was different and always lived in my imaginary, perfect world where nobody could understand me, including my family,” Caroline said.
Although the price she had to pay to secure her ‘imaginary perfect world’ was huge, Caroline never wanted to compromise her dream even for a moment. She had always wanted to be a model, though she never was able to walk on a ramp up until she stepped into the Mrs Sri Lanka pageant. She was invariably a beauty queen in her thoughts and dreams. On completion of her secondary education, Caroline moved to Dubai to kick off her career in the field of Customer care and Marketing and worked as a Sales Executive at Virgin Mega Store in Dubai for a few years where she met her soul-mate Nishantha Deepal. They tied the knot last year. Although she had to adjust herself according to the ups and downs of life, her inner-self was never ready to settle down as just another ‘ordinary’ person.
The moment she saw the Mrs Sri Lanka 2020 advertisement online, she knew this was her chance.
With her beloved husband’s permission and immense support from her mother-in-law and her two close friends Silani and Neville, she was able to participate at the Mrs Sri Lanka pageant and ended up winning the crown a few months ago. As Jurie explains, among the contestants she had the least experience and contacts. Driven by her innocence and utmost support from her family, she ended up the lucky winner, overcoming all the obstacles that came her way.
“I’m so sure that I must be the beauty queen who spent the least amount of money. I didn’t have any money at all to spend whereas all the other contestants spent lavishly. However, my determination was up and above them, and it carried me to victory,” she added.
She thanked the National Director Chandimal Jayasignhe for his genuine involvement and determination to crown the right contestant as Mrs Sri Lanka. “Chandimal’s passion and determination was seen throughout the pageant.
Although he was under tremendous pressure as some contestants tried to persuade the judges to act in favour of them, Chandimal was never ready to compromise his passion. He wanted to run a fair competition without bias. And finally, his genuine effort paid off,” said Jurie.
Jurie has been gifted with a rare figure, quite unusual in the continent. Although her slim, tall figure has been a key factor for her victory, Jurie says it was a nightmare to find the correct shoe size that fits her.
“My shoe size is 42 which is quite a difficult size to find over here. As I had got shoes from Dubai, for the Mrs World pageant I wore the same pair of heels which I wore for the Mrs Sri Lanka pageant since I couldn’t find a pair to suit my evening gown. However, they turned out to be my winning pair of heels,” Jurie said.
‘Be You’ is Jurie’s social campaign where she wants to help unfortunate children who suffer from mental illnesses. Jurie hopes that her life story can contribute to the social movement that encourages youth and children to pursue their passion and goals in life without being victimised by social norms and constrains.
“You should follow your inner-voice fearlessly and unapologetically,” says Jurie. Jurie’s ‘Be You’ platform seeks to kick off many social campaigns to encourage youth to follow their dreams until they achieve them in reality.
“My main intention of this campaign is to motivate youth especially, girls to expand the traditional and cultural boundaries which have restricted creativity and free thinking.
Through the‘Be You’ platform I seek to help youth who have been suffering from cultural and social barriers mentally and physically. I consider this as my main focus in the coming year,” Juri added.
With so much going on in her life as Mrs Sri Lanka and now as Mrs World, Jurie somehow manages to find time for her family and herself.
“Whatever the circumstances that I had to deal with, family is my first priority and I always believe that balance in life is something you create consciously,” Juri said.
Having moved back to Sri Lanka Jurie now lives with her husband and her one year old daughter.
She thanks her family for their immense support. “My husband, mother-in-law, my family and friends have helped me in numerous ways. Without their love and support I wouldn’t have been able to achieve this,” she says.
Jurie has a message for young women who desire to take part in pageants. “Believe in yourself and listen to your inner-voice which is important in achieving anything in life. Take a chance to explore who you are, what’s important to you and focus on becoming the best version of yourself every day. Be the magic of you.”