Supermodel Survivor Petra Nemcova

Petra Nemcova was born in Czechoslovakia, more specifically, Karvina. Her big break happened when a fashion scout - often the way these things happen - discovered her in in Karvina.

In 1999 she got her first TV gig on an American talk-back show in the vein of David Letterman. Called the "The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn" the smitten host declared his love for her and even went so far as to predict that she'd be in Sports Illustrated: Swimsuit Edition by 2003. Not a bad guess...

In 2001, she starred in the French comedy flick, Absolument fabuleux. If your French is up to scratch, you'll know that the title translates to Absolutely Fabulous.

Either way, it is a 105 minute French remake of the seminal British comedy series and, while not critically acclaimed, it is said to be very similar to its precursor, providing plenty of belly laughs.

She mananged to get on the 2002 Swimsuit Issue of Sports Illustrated and she is currently signed with Next Modeling Agency and has contracts with the likes of Max Factor and Cartier. Furthermore, she has also had good coverage in Harper's Bazaar, Elle and other fashion mags.

Recently, she was in Phuket when the Asian Quake hit and she survived after clinging on to a palm tree with her boyfriend for eight hours.