Who is Jalicia Nightengale?
Jalicia Nightengale was born in 1993, in Bridgetown, Barbados, and is a professional model, best known for rising to fame thanks to her unique physical appearance. She has dark skin, model-like qualities, and an unusual shade of blue eyes which has attracted the attention of many. She’s appeared in numerous ads for various beauty companies in Europe, and has also done some acting.
The Net Worth of Jalicia Nightengale
As of early-2020, Jalicia Nightengale’s net worth is estimated to be over $700,000, earned largely through a successful career as a model. She’s traveled around the world, appearing in print ads, catwalk shows, and televised advertisements.
She’s been featured by numerous publications, and has also worked for the equal treatment of dark-skinned models.
Early Life
Jalicia’s blue eyes come from her father’s side of the family, a recessive gene that appears only a few times every generation. The blue is an unusual shade, extremely light and vibrant, on the brighter side of the spectrum. Of course, this helped her physical appearance to stand out, although she didn’t think of modeling as a career early in her life.
It was quite the opposite, as she often attracted the stares of strangers and people at her school. Locals were very wary about her eyes, and her school even had to make her mother write a letter to prove that she wasn’t blind because of her eye color. A lot of locals envied her unusual color, and she was bullied for it too, which reached a point where she didn’t even attend school for a term. People always asked her about her eyes, and she was very defensive during her youth.
Modeling Career
Over the years, Nightengale got used to her eyes, and even began seeing them more as an asset than a curse. The teasing turned to more attention, and eventually she was encouraged by some to pursue modeling.
She was 19 years old when she was convinced by her boyfriend to move to Switzerland and pursue a career as a professional model, where she was immediately noticed and wasn’t treated in the same divisive attitude she once felt. Wanting to find her breakthrough in the field, she kept submitting auditions for “Switzerland’s Next Top Model” – she had to send her audition multiple times, as she knew that prejudice in the modeling industry against dark-skinned women would mean that she would be rejected a few times before anyone would take notice.
Her actions proved successful, and she joined the competition which elevated her stock as an aspiring model; the Top Model franchise is known internationally for being a platform to discover up-and-coming models. The show began in the US with “America’s Next Top Model”, created by supermodel Tyra Banks. With the show’s popularity, many other countries followed suit. Winners of the competition would often gain a modeling contract and a feature in a top fashion magazine.
International Model
While she didn’t win the competition, Jalicia’s work on television helped attract numerous agencies wanting to hire her as a model.
She signed with Scouts Models, and did a few jobs for them, but eventually quit due to disagreements; she felt that the business was limiting her opportunities, so she then moved to the UK to pursue jobs, representing herself. At this time, she learned to develop her personality further to help her gain jobs during negotiations. While she had the looks, she admitted that having a magnetic personality is what really matters when gaining contracts.
She also took regular jobs in France, where she had to take an intensive course in the language to give her an edge against other models.
She was offered a contract with New Version Models which she accepted, and her work has continuously been on the rise, as she returned to London where she currently resides. Over the years she’s been in the industry, she‘s befriended many dark-skinned professional models, who she would collaborate with frequently. She wanted to prove that dark skin can be beautiful, and is determined to eliminate the stereotype against it.
Acting Projects
Nightengale has expressed her interest in pursuing acting after her modeling days are over. She sees herself working as a model until the age of 30, and then she’ll give a lot more of her attention towards acting.
She has tested the waters a few times, appearing as one of the Amazon warriors in the film “Justice League”, playing one of the warriors in Themyscira, the home of Wonder Woman, and was present during several scenes in which they would fight against the villain, Steppenwolf.
She also mentioned that she had done a cameo in “Star Wars”, at around the time “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” was nearing its release. While she didn’t specify her role, the Star Wars films are known for featuring various celebrities in minor or cameo roles. She also launched the project called Melanin on Melanin, a photoshoot featuring various dark-skinned women. The project intended to bring more exposure to them, and prove that dark skin can be beautiful and it isn’t always white that is considered pretty.
The project proved successful, and she was covered by several media outlets for her work.
Personal Life
It is not known if Nightengale is still with her boyfriend who encouraged her to become a model. She does not talk a lot about her romances, and doesn’t have any social media accounts that could help provide an insight into her life away from modeling. While living in London has been a drastic change to her life in Barbados, she’s now used to living in different cultures, as well as being the woman who stands out in the crowd. She’s traveled around the world thanks to her work, but also wants to lift Barbados as a place of interest for modeling scouts.