About me..
Early Life
Chanelle de Lau born and raised in Curacao, is the daughter of a Jamaican-born mother and Dutch-born father. Having a feisty and warm cultured mother link with a direct and very Dutch father, it is safe to say that Chanelle is the product of two very opposite cultures. Her upbringing was far from the ordinary as she juggled both worlds whilst growing up in a multicultural pool on its own: Curacao. Due to the exposure of many cultures and languages, she often was faced with an identity crisis but eventually accepted that she is unique and embraced all her traits and characteristics that came with it.
She is considered very ambitious, witty, adaptable, outspoken, caring, but will give you a piece of her mind when called upon. Kind by nature, she always struggled with saying “no” to people in need and had to learn through relationships that it is great to care for others, just not at your own detriment.
In her final year of high school Chanelle lost her father to cancer at the age of 16. He fought hard but unfortunately passed away in November 2011. While coping with the loss of her father, Chanelle still managed to graduate from high school with top grades and moved to college in the Netherlands a year later.
Career & Recent Years
The loss of her father motivated her to launch her own foundation in October of 2017. “Stichting Chanelle de Lau” is a foundation that aims to help educate children on healthy lifestyle habits to prevent cancer and other diseases, as well as provide financial support to institutions handling cancer patients in Curacao.
Chanelle also challenged herself by entering the Miss Universe Curacao pageant in 2016. All her hard work paid off when she was crowned Miss Curacao on October 3rd that year. She then participated at the 65th Miss Universe Pageant in the Philippines and even though she did not place, she left a lasting impression on everyone including host Steve Harvey who mentioned her on his radio show after the pageant.
Not being one to give up, she since joined a second international pageant: Miss International in Tokyo Japan, November 2017. Chanelle is now the reigning Miss International 1st Runner Up.
She was known as the “Rihanna” of both pageants amongst the rest of the candidates due to her similar styles and resemblance to the Caribbean pop artist. Nonetheless, she enjoys standing out of the crowd and considers herself a chameleon with a high sense of versatility in her ever changing looks and styles.
Next to the pageantries, modeling has always been a part of her life since she was 6 years old. Curacao is home to numerous modeling schools and competitions where she always participated. Now, Chanelle continues to pursue her modeling career in the US and landed herself a contract with a modeling and talent management agency in South Beach, Miami.
Hobbies & Leisure Time
Chanelle is very ambitious towards personal development. It is an aspiration of hers to play a leading role in a movie and have her own talk show someday. She looks up to Ellen DeGeneres for both her humanitarian efforts and her humorous side on her talk show. She’s been invited many times as a guest on TV shows locally in Curacao, including talk- and cooking shows.
She has a passion for cooking and creating new dishes as she enjoys experimenting with vegan cuisine. Dancing is also one of her hobbies. She has 12 years of dance experience and uses it as a medium of relaxation and expression.
Chanelle always had a special place in her heart for animals. She enjoys canoodling with exotic animals in every new country she visits. Her most recent encounter would be kissing and cuddling wild stingrays in the Cayman Islands as they claim to give you 7 years of good luck. This pairs nicely with her enthusiasm for exploring different cultures when traveling on the job.