Miss Bulgaria

Gergana Guncheva

Gergana grew up in the capital of Bulgaria - Sofia, this is situated at the foot of the Vitosha Mountain, and is a favourite place for tourists in all seasons. Gergana is currently studying polygraphy and photography and will complete her secondary education in 2005, her ambition is to study journalism at University and eventually become a Television Journalist. Her father is a volley ball coach and her mother has been a rhythmic gymnastic dancer, being brought up in this sphere has helped her enjoy both sport and dance (including rhythmic gymnastics, ballet, Latino, folk and traditional dances), and to win many prizes. Gergana also enjoys: drawing, painting, going to the theatre and cinema. Her personal motto is "To give and not to expect anything in return".


Where did you grow up? Tell us a little about your home town/city, and family.
I grew up in the capital of Bulgaria - Sofia. It is a very beautiful city with interesting architecture and many churches. It is huddled at the foot of Vitosha Mountain, which is a perfect tourist place for all seasons. My parents are both engaged with sports - my father is a volleyball coach and my mother has been a rhythmic gymnastics dancer. I was a very playful kid.

What Jobs have you done? What was the most interesting/bizarre?
I have been working as a model for several years. I have travelled to different countries for fashion shows, catalogue shootings etc. There is one funny moment that recently happened to me - we were shooting a winter catalogue in Italy. We had to be dressed with warm clothes - sweaters, coats, hats, gloves, shawls, boots and etc. And the sun was shining and the temperature outside was 29 degrees Celsius. This was a really tempting challenge - to resist and not to show with you expression that you are going to boil up with heat.

What are your career ambitions, how do you plan to realise them?
I would like to become a TV journalist and make a show for the common peoples problems. I would like to find out about different unfortunate fates and by making them popular to the society - to try to help them live better.

What is the proudest moment of your life? (Not including winning your National Title)
I am a person who always tries to be good with all people no matter how they hurt others. Once I wanted so badly to seek revenge from somebody but I did not. I could do that person a lot of harm but I stopped myself. That is one thing I am really proud of.

What was the funniest/most embarrassing moment of your life?
There was this man that I really liked but actually we had never been introduced. And one day he was walking down the street, I was coming towards him and I was so dazzled by him that I bumped into him. He started yelling at me and I wanted to disappear. But after a while we became friends.

What was the funniest/most embarrassing moment of your life?
The truth is that my life has not tremendously changed after winning the title. One thing that surely happened is that now more people know me, they point at me on the street, talk with me. My personal life changed also - now I have more people that I know but the number of my true friends has declined. It is very nice and I got used to being famous but fame also has its price - sometimes I find myself looking around before getting out of my house.

Tell us about an interesting event you have attended, or a person that you have met.
This is related to my dream to become a journalist. I attended a very interesting event - the anniversary of the leading daily newspaper in Bulgaria where so many famous and highly recognized journalists were present. I had the chance to talk to some of my idols and they encouraged me in pursuing my goal.

What would you like to do, if you became Miss World 2004?
I know that Miss World Organisation has dedicated its efforts to caring for children in need. As a titleholder of Miss World I will use all my power and connections to help more children in need. No matter where are they - in hospital, homeless, in orphanages… And everywhere I go I will speak to the people who constantly take care of those children and will explain them that the most precious thing for any child is to receive love and attention. Because no present can replace the true hug and kiss. There is a lot of work and I am ready to devote myself to this not only noble but also truly human cause.

If you had a personal motto what would it be?
Actually I do have a personal motto, it is a principle that I keep to: I do whatever I think is right, without seeking anyone’s approval, and I do well and make people happy without expecting anything in return.

Give details of any charitable work undertaken?
I have visited several orphanages and have organised famous people from Bulgarian show business to go and see the kids. I think that the best thing we can do about those children is to show them that they are no different than us - that they can afford to listen to the songs of their favourite pop star or to see and touch their favourite TV host.

There are of course many more things I am planning to do to help them and I am happy that being a beauty queen can give you a chance to make somebody (who for example grows up without parents or someone very sick) really happy.

Miss Bulgaria's Gallery