Bio
Selita Ebanks is a Caymanian fashion model who worked for Victoria's Secret and as a Victoria's Secret Angel from 2005-2008. She also appeared on The Celebrity Apprentice, in 2010. She was fired in Week 5 and came ninth.
Discovered by Women Model Management at the age of 17 in an amusement park, Ebanks quickly rose through the ranks to become one of the most sought after and respected models of her generation.
A native New Yorker of Caymanian, Jamaican, Irish, Indian and African descent, Ebanks was raised as the only girl in a household of seven boys. Her father, a New York City corrections officer captain, instilled manners, values, and respect in his children.
Her brothers also influenced her love for athletics; she grew up playing basketball and tennis and remains a sports fanatic to this day.
A gifted and hard-working student, Ebanks contemplated attending Columbia, Spellman, and New York University, making her decision to pursue a modeling career and postpone her education, a very difficult decision for her and her family.
She has since graced the covers of Esquire and Hampton Style, been featured in Vanity Fair and was chosen as one of People Magazine's Most Beautiful People in 2007 and featured in Sports Illustrated's Illustrious Swimsuit Issue in 2007 and 2008.
While Ebanks has worked with some of the world's most noted photographers - including Peter Lindbergh, Bruce Weber, Steven Klein, Carter Smith, Russell James and Mikeal Jansen - and for some of the most quintessential American fashion campaigns (Ralph Lauren, Abercrombie & Fitch, Levi's and Tommy Hilfiger), her career aspirations came true when she was chosen to be a Victoria's Secret Angel.
Now she works with all the best fashion photographers and film directors in the Victoria's Secret family, joining the ranks of Heidi Klum, Gisele Bundchen, Adriana Lima and Tyra Banks.
In 2008, after a trip to Sierra Leone, she founded the Women's Coalition for Empowerment and Opportunity (WCEO) to support women's educational and professional programs in the civil war-torn African nation.
Ebanks is also a supporter of New Yorkers of Children, which benefits young adults in the New York's Foster Care system.
She is active in the New York and Cayman Islands communities, and has been a mentor in the Seamen's Society of Staten Island, working with local schools, churches and community groups to provide individual and family counseling, HIV/AIDS education and prevention, leadership skills, peer support groups and recreation.
She has also initiated a mentoring program in the Cayman Islands called the Stardom Youth Foundation providing career guidance for teenagers.
In 2012 she appeared as one of the experts in the fashion makeover special Fashion Mob, which aired on the Style network.