MIAMI BEACH – Nikki Rae admits she was debating whether to enter this year’s Miss XBIZ Summit Bikini Contest up until the last minute.
“I kept thinking should I or shouldn’t I?” Rae told XBIZ. “Then I thought, we’ll I don’t have anything to lose.”
Her decision paid off on Wednesday evening at the Ocean Garden at the Eden Roc Hotel, where Rae emerged from a field of 14 contestants to capture the 2014 Miss XBIZ Summit crown.
The 26-year-old model and college student from Orlando said the competition was a thrill and the victory was a surprise.
“It was a great atmosphere,” she said. “The crowd really helped me win. The crowd was awesome. I don’t know what I did that was special, but it was a fun competition.”
A registered dietary technician who is studying nutrition with the goal of becoming a dietician, the exotic Rae is half Thai and a quarter German and Irish. She said her modeling experience includes calendars, swimwear, hair, makeup and more. Rae also has worked as a model at the Playboy mansion for the annual Midsummer's Night Dream party. This week she was scheduled to shoot for the Swisher Sweets cigar calendar.
“Modeling is just something fun that I’ve done,” said Rae, who also has some acting experience.
Rae last year became familiar with the XBIZ Summit when she worked as a promo model, wearing body paint by the pool at the Mayfair Hotel in Coconut Grove, Fla. She returned to the XBIZ Summit on Thursday, sporting her silver tiara and an XBIZ Summit tanktop at Eden Roc.
After the field of 14 was narrowed to seven finalists on Wednesday, Rae demonstrated her flexibility for the crowd, doing a back-bend and full split that just may have earned her the title.
She won $500 cash and the chance to be the face of the 2015 XBIZ Summit ad campaign for her efforts.
Rae can be found on Twitter and Instagram at @Miss_Nikki_Rae.