Q&A: Model Search contestant Lisa-Marie Jaftha on her eclectic music taste

Get to know spunky South African beauty Lisa-Marie Jaftha!

Xandria James | Feb 14, 2017

Which one of our lovely Model Search contestants will be apart of the 2018 SI Swimsuit rookie class? We need your help deciding! Get to know spunky South African beauty Lisa-Marie Jaftha!

Swim Daily: What were you like growing up?

Lisa-Marie Jaftha: I was very weird and I would say that I was a tomboy. I really idolized Kurt Cobain a lot and alternative bands like Metallica, Korn, and Seether. So those were kind of like my role models, so I kind of drifted into the emo scene and then when I finished high school I was like ‘Oh, I should be a model.’

SD: Did you ever dye your hair pink or do anything rebellious like that?

LMJ: No, but I always wanted to have a piercing and my mom said ‘no.’ And then when I turned 18 she said ‘OK, you can’ and then I was like ‘Well, now it’s no more fun because I can do it.’

SD: Do you still listen to Nirvana?

LMJ: Yes, but my music taste is just so random, like I can listen to a song by Celine Dion and then want to go listen to Korn.

SD: If you weren’t modeling right now what would you be doing?

LMJ: I’d probably be doing counseling or psychology or something to do with animal welfare.

SD: If you could meet anyone in the world—living or dead—who would it be?

LMJ: I’m really stuck between meeting Bruce Lee…or Kurt Cobain or Freddy Mercury.

SD: Describe your perfect day.

LMJ: Wake up whenever I want and go to this place called Le Petit in Brooklyn and have a brunch there, like an omelet, with great French fries that they have. I think it's hard to find a place that makes good French fries.

SD: Finish this sentence: The people I went to high school with would be _____ to find out that I’m in the SI Swimsuit issue

LMJ: They’d never believe it. I was the most unlikely candidate who would ever do this job.

See Lisa-Marie's sexy shots from SI Swimsuit 2017!