Selita Ebanks

Biography
Selita Ebanks was born in Georgetown, Cayman Islands on February 15, 1983. She was raised in a large family that included seven brothers, and because of that, Selita Ebanks played many sports growing up, such as basketball, football and tennis. But the family was quite poor, living in what Selita Ebanks later described as "a little blue, zinc-roof shack on Walkers Road." Oftentimes, Selita Ebanks didn't even have shoes to wear to Georgetown primary school. Yet Selita Ebanks' family, and her mother in particular, encouraged her development through exposure to extra-curricular programs.

Eventually, the young Selita Ebanks found herself moving to America, and she settled on Staten Island. She proved to be a good student in high school, and was later accepted into Columbia and New York University. But Selita Ebanks' life had already taken an unexpected turn that would put her higher education on hold. At the age of 17, Selita Ebanks was discovered by a modeling agent at New Jersey's Six Flags Great Adventure.

selita ebanks models for victoria's secret
Promptly after being discovered, Selita Ebanks was making a big splash as an up-and-coming model. Starting out with catalogs and commercials, Selita Ebanks was soon gracing the pages of magazines such as Sports Illustrated, Glamour, Marie Claire, Vogue, and Nylon. In addition to magazines, Selita Ebanks also landed notable ad campaigns for Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren and Levi's.

Part of Selita Ebanks' quick success was due to the relationship with her agency, Women Models, whom she felt never treated her like "just another model." Indeed, industry insiders were impressed when Women Models' CEO Chris Gay landed Selita Ebanks a lucrative contract with Victoria's Secret. The deal resulted in Selita Ebanks' biggest show to date, appearing alongside veteran models Heidi Klum and Tyra Banks at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in 2005. Tyra Banks, who retired from modeling thereafter, passed the Victoria's Secret torch on to Selita Ebanks on a November 2005 broadcast of The Tyra Banks Show.

selita ebanks on south beach
Meanwhile, Selita Ebanks was looking past her modeling career and trying to establish herself as an all-around entertainer. She began looking for small film roles and began recording music as well. In early 2006, she had a small role on the first few episodes of South Beach, a new UPN sex-and-surf drama starring fellow model Vanessa Williams and executive produced by Jennifer Lopez.

Selita Ebanks divides her time between New York, Los Angeles and the Cayman Islands. She's active with community organizations such as the Seamen's Society of Staten Island and the Stardom Youth Foundation in Georgetown, Cayman Islands, which she started to help young Caymanians reach their potential in a wide range of endeavors.

In 2008, Selita Ebanks appeared in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.