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PHOTOGRAPHY
CAMERON GRAYSON
STYLING
DANIEL PACIOCCO
HAIR AND MAKE-UP
JADE KISNORBO
Maria Thattil
Full speed ahead
It’s been a whirlwind couple of years since the diminutive beauty represented Australia in the Miss Universe pageant and she has no plans to slow down
WORDS CHARLOTTE BRUNDRETT
When Maria Thattil last spoke with The House of Wellness, she was in the throes of Miss Universe pageant preparations, going on to place in the international top 10.
Monumental as the experience was for Maria, becoming a pageant queen was never the end goal.
“It was never just ‘I want to be Miss Universe’; it was about how I wanted to reach and connect with people, and when I returned from Florida (where the global 2020 Miss Universe pageant was held in 2021, due to Covid) I had to navigate how to continue that goal beyond the pageant,” she says.
Since then, the 160cm multihyphenate has made continuous strides, juggling her commitments as a magazine and online columnist with her sexual wellness digital series Getting Intimate and empowerment series Mind with Me, in addition to regular hosting and television appearances, including a role as a panellist on Today Extra and a stint on I’m a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here!, where she publicly came out as bisexual.
“The past year has been this fast paced, upward trajectory for me, and I’ve really focused on self-growth,” she says. “A year ago, I was so far in the closet I was bordering Narnia — and just reflecting on where I’m at now, I’m out and authentically myself.”
Maria is also learning to say no to things, a concept many of us struggle with.
“There have been so many times in my life where I’ve been told ‘no’ and to be out here doing it anyway is very affirming and motivating for me,” Maria says. “There’s power in saying no to things that don’t align with you. I had to remind myself that as lucky as I am to be in my current position, I’ve also worked really hard to get here.”
These days, Maria is far more comfortable broaching subjects such as sexuality, and she hopes by doing so, the conversation is less intimidating for others.
“When I think about sex and sexuality, it was something that wasn’t spoken about a lot when I was growing up, but I genuinely love talking about it — one, because it’s fun, and two, because it’s a beautiful, natural expression of being a human,” she says.
After dating was put on the backburner during Miss Universe preparations, Maria’s learning to prioritise her personal life again and is exploring a wider dating pool in the process.
“Since coming out, I’ve been able to date intentionally and connect with more humans that I’m compatible with and have a great time with, and I don’t think I would have been able to achieve that if my heart was closed and I was closeted.”
It’s a theme Maria explored as part of skincare company Olay’s Glow Up Your Own Way campaign which celebrated self-identity and featured both Maria and her younger brother, Domenic.
“The campaign spoke on our shared experience growing up as queer children of immigrants, which was such a special, personal experience for us and I really respect Olay using their platform to celebrate our story
and for being so responsive and collaborative to our creative input,” the Olay paid ambassador says.
“This past year hasn’t been the easiest for me. I’ve had mental health struggles and my grandmother passed away, and the Olay team were always checking in, sending flowers, sweet notes and a mental health care package. Efforts like that really stood out to me.”
Maria is now gearing up for her appearance with Olay in support of the LGBTQIA+ community at Sydney WorldPride 2023 (February 17-March 5). She is also an event Rainbow Champion for her contribution to the community. “To be involved in WorldPride is a huge privilege and when I see myself on the billboard promoting it, I’m reminded of how terrified I was a year ago to even come out.”
It’s a huge contrast to where Maria is at now, as she makes the final touches to her bold fashion looks ahead of the festival. The writer, model and diversity advocate doesn’t shy away from experimenting with style or beauty and has returned to her naturally dark roots after years of being caramel blonde. “I had convinced myself for years that dark hair was unflattering on me and that caramel hair was more representative of who I am,” Maria says.
“It’s only now, after seeing footage of myself blonde and whitewashed on television, that I have realised my lighter hair didn’t come from a good place; it came from feeling that my dark features weren’t OK.”
Maria’s enjoying her healthy, bleach-free brunette hair for the time being, but she has far bolder looks in the pipeline, including a pixie cut or shaving it off in favour of a blonde buzz.
“I feel in my soul that I’ll do it at some point because they’re such powerful, assertive looks,” she says. “But I think I’ll need a few years to build up the confidence to do it.”
As for what’s next, Maria remains as busy as ever both on screen and off, as she prepares to make her acting debut on an undisclosed project and release her debut book in February.
“I’ve been busy working on my first book, Unbounded, which is a self-help resource for people who wish to explore their own identity, free themselves from limiting beliefs and inspire change in their own life,” she says. It is clear this is just the start for Maria, a member of the United Nations Association of Australia and a passionate South Asian trailblazer for greater diversity and representation. “For me, I didn’t want to pick just television or just writing or a sole project. I always wanted to do all of it,” she says.
“Now that I’ve featured in spreads and two magazine covers, it made me think about Indian Australian representation in traditional media. I was speaking at an event recently and asked the audience, ‘Can someone tell me the last time they saw an Indian woman
on the cover of a national Australian magazine or on prime time television?’ and everyone went silent.”
Maria hopes that by asking such questions and by having these conversations, Australia will become more comfortable and representative of its multicultural identity in the same way Maria has towards herself.
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Unbounded by Maria Thattil is published by Penguin Random House Australia, RRP $34.99. Available for pre-order from penguin.com.au or in store from February 21.
GO BEHIND THE SCENES OF OUR COVER SHOOT WITH MARIA AT HOUSEOFWELLNESS.COM.AU
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