Jennifer Hawkins was born in the Australian city of Newcastle, two hours north of Sydney, in 1984. This regional township has a predominant beach culture, making it the perfect family environment for Jen and her family. Jennifer was the youngest of four children, a position that exposed her to plenty of influence and tutelage from older siblings. Her parents, homemaker Gail and train company manager Robert, remain happily married to this day.

One of Jennifer’s first hobbies was dancing, something she took up at the age of the very young age of 5. While she was devoted to dancing, it never got in the way of her education, which commenced at Barnsley Public Primary School and then continued at West Wallsend High School. During those years, Jennifer was regarded as a quiet student and was always at the top of her class.

Her agility on the dance floor led Jennifer to try her hand at water sports, and she soon became addicted to surfing and wakeboarding. Her next professional step was to become a cheerleader for the Newcastle Knights Rugby League team. She cheered for a living, but kept dancing. It all fell into place following her victory at a national dance competition in 2001, Jennifer became a cheerleader (called a “cheergirl” down under) for the Newcastle Knights rugby team. She was selected as Cheergirl of the Year in the National Rugby League, which landed her on the cover of Big League magazine.

It didn’t take long for her employer to recognize Jennifer’s publicity power, and she was featured in a TV spot to sell merchandise for the Newcastle Knights. In 2002, she moved on to modeling seriously and began entering beauty pageants. She finished in third place at the Miss Indy competition, then claimed the title of Newcastle’s Miss Surfest.

After posing for Dirt Action magazine and Airtime Clothing, Jennifer moved up the beauty pageant food chain and won the Miss Australia competition. Her ascension to greatness culminated in 2004, with her crowning as the 52nd Miss Universe!