Kenyan Could be Crowned the First Miss Switzerland

Natalie Bühler was born in Mombasa to a Kenyan mother and a Swiss father. She moved to Switzerland when she was only three years old and although she can understand Swahili and her mother is her role model, she believes she’s more Swiss than Kenyan.

Her grandfather motivated her into trying out for the Miss Switzerland competition, he thought she is beautiful enough to win the crown but she wasn’t very sure of her capabilities. In November she stumbled upon an ad for the Miss Switzerland competition and decided to try her luck. After all 60 candidates had been “tested” before the jury that included the former Miss Switzerland and current manager of the Miss Switzerland pageant in Switzerland, Karina Berger. As the results were read out, she sat waiting but with no real enthusiasm. She was ready to take her bag and leave, sure she hadn’t made the cut only to be named one of the top ten. She still can’t believe she received her “golden ticket” from the current Miss Switzerland, Dominique Rinderknecht. “It was like a dream”.

With the “Golden Ticket” she gets the pass to the final competitions to be held in Zurich in February though a date hasn’t been set yet. If she wins, she stands to be the first “black” Miss Switzerland. Her motivation now is to motivate others that it is possible to succeed even when all the odds seem against you. She would also like to show people that anyone can succeed regardless of where they come from and their skin colour.

In her “normal” life, Natalie works for the Regensberg Gemeinde as a Manager of the Tax Office and Einwohnerkontrolle. A pretty hectic job but she enjoys it. She has been dating her boyfriend, Sven for the past five years and says he is very supportive of her endeavours. Her favourite meal is risotto with sea food, her favourite music is jazz and she loves low comfortable shoes, “they work with everything and are very comfortable”.

On being asked where she sees herself in ten years, she says, she’d like to see herself go further in her career, with a dog and a Loft apartment in the city center. “I have to a dog, a man, maybe”