Sally receives her crown

Melbourne based glamour model and 2008 Miss Zoo Weekly Australian Calendar Girl winner Sally-Anne Arnott couldn’t have asked for a better Christmas present. She recently made history by being only the second Australian model ever to be crowned Miss Calendar Girl International beating top models from all over the globe at the glamorous American Dream Calendar World Finals in The Bahamas. The American Dream World Finals were held just before Christmas at the Crystal Palace Resort & Casino in The Bahamas and represented a culmination of a world-wide model search attracting more than 30,000 of the planet’s top glamour models in over 60 countries. Not content with just winning the main title, Sally-Anne also danced her way to a substantial cash prize by winning the “Dance Challenge” section as well.

As part of her massive prize package, Sally-Anne will now appear on the cover of the prestigious American Dream Swimsuit Calendar and she also walks away with other prizes including jewellery and cash. The star-studded event in The Bahamas is understandably popular with modelling scouts and casting agents from the US and Europe. Not surprisingly, Sally-Anne impressed several of these resulting in an immediate invitation to travel to New York for a photo shoot.

Sally-Anne earned the right to represent Australia at the world finals by first entering and winning the preliminary round of the nation’s biggest and richest calendar model competition; The ZOO WEEKLY Australian Swimsuit Calendar Model Search at a Gold Coast nightclub. This led to a spot in the Australian Final and her own month as Miss July in the 2008 Zoo Weekly Australian Swimsuit Calendar. It was then up to the buyers of the calendar to cast their vote for their favourite model in the 2008 edition and when the votes were counted in early 2008, Sally-Anne quickly emerged as the winner and was duly crowned 2008 Miss Zoo Weekly Australian Calendar Girl. Winning the public vote also earned Sally-Anne the all expenses paid trip to the Calendar Girl World Finals in The Bahamas.  

It is only the second  time in the 15 year history of the Australian Swimsuit Calendar model search that an Aussie model takes the top honour at the World Finals. The last time was back in 1993 when Adelaide stunner Nikki Visser impressed the judges, including real estate billionaire Donald Trump, at the Trump Castle Casino & Resort in Atlantic City and grabbed the coveted title.

CEO of Pacific Enterprises (the promoters of the Zoo Weekly Australian Swimsuit Calendar Model Search, the Miss Hawaiian Tropic International Model Search and Miss Formula Fever) and Zoo Weekly Australian Swimsuit Calendar publisher Jim Lagerstedt is of course delighted with Sally-Anne’s international success but admits to not being overly surprised.

Says Mr Lagerstedt: “I had the pleasure of first meeting Sally-Anne at our Miss Formula Fever National Finals back in 2006 where she impressed everyone including the judges enough to win the sought after title and the main prize which at the time was an all expenses paid trip to the Miss Hawaiian Tropic International World Finals where she placed in the top 10. As soon as I met Sally-Anne, I knew we had found someone very special and that she was destined for greatness. I don’t think she is aware of it herself, but Sally-Anne often has quite a profound effect on the people that she meets. It is hard to remain unmoved by her sheer passion for life and her relentless pursuit of success.”

It is no doubt it is this drive that has resulted in her remarkable success in the world of model searches and pageants in such a short time. Launching her pageant career with the Miss Formula Fever win in 2006, Sally-Anne has achieved many milestones in only a couple of years including a first runner-up position in the 2007 Miss Hawaiian Tropic Australia Final a runner-up position at the now defunct Miss Indy and a regional winner award at the Top Model Of The World final in Egypt.

Sally-Anne’s bedroom bears testimony to her many pageant related achievements as it is filled with trophies, awards and sashes from the countless competitions she has entered. “I’m starting to run out of space for ot all” jokes Sally-Anne.

Sally-Anne credits her early experiences through the Pacific Enterprises’ conducted pageants as one of the main reasons to her remarkable success. Says Sally-Anne: “Winning the Miss Formula Fever final in Melbourne back in 2006 definitely kicked off my interest in pageants. I also learned so much from having the opportunity to compete in the Miss Hawaiian Tropic World Finals in Las Vegas that same year. The international pageant scene is so much more competitive than back here in Australia but I seem to thrive on it!”

All the Winners on stage at the American Dream finals in the Bahamas