Claudia Henkel reflects on Miss SA 2004 win: 'I’ve lived, I’ve loved, I've lost'
Claudia Henkel is celebrating the 20th anniversary of her Miss SA title with an emotional post about how far she has come since then...
Twenty years ago, Claudia Henkel won a beauty pageant that would change her life. She was crowned Miss South Africa 2004.
Claudia took to Instagram to celebrate the milestone. "It’s a very strange feeling, celebrating 20 years ago, with one week to go till we crown a new @official_misssa," she wrote.
Being a decade x2, it seems more poignant than ever to give a token of appreciation: I’ve lived, I’ve loved, I’ve lost.
The beauty queen, who now works in the PR and marketing industry, shared what advice she would give her younger self.
"Today if I could give that young Claudia advice, I would tell her the night you were crowned, life would change and in ways that you could not even understand, I would tell her that no matter what lies before you, you are bold, courageous and you are strong. Claudia your biggest attribute is LOVE, so I do what I would have told my 21-year-old self."
A lot has happened since Claudia won Miss SA 2004. She is now a mother of two, and her children, Skylar and Hunter, are the apple of her eye.
She shares the twins with her ex-husband, Orin Roesstorff.
The 41-year-old is engaged to be married to businessman Michael Hoffman. Her fiancé proposed during a vacation in Mauritius.
"A million times yes! My soulmate," she captioned a picture of her diamond ring on Instagram in June.
The couple made their relationship public in 2023.
"My kids are so happy because mommy is very happy," she told YOU magazine in June last year.
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Miss South Africa 2024
Miss South Africa will crown a new beauty queen this weekend. Natasha Joubert is the current titleholder.
Jesse Clegg, Kamo Mphela, Lebo Mashile, and Zoë Modiga were announced as some of the performers scheduled to appear at the 66th edition of the pageant.
Sign language activist Andiswa Gebashe will help make the Miss South Africa ceremony accessible to the hearing impaired community.
"There's a famous saying within the community, ‘Hearing people can learn Sign Language/s. Deaf people cannot learn to hear.’ So it is an honour to be part of history in the making, where we make Miss South Africa also accessible to an audience that uses a visual language, especially with the event taking place a month after South African Sign Language’s 12th language official status anniversary and a month before International Deaf Awareness month. It's a beautiful way to celebrate inclusion of the language, while promoting its social cohesion," she said in a statement.
The 2024 Miss SA finale will take place on Saturday, August 10, at Sun International’s SunBet Arena in Pretoria.
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Main image credit: Instagram/@slaudiahenkelza