Irina Shayk
Irina Valeryevna Shaykhlislamova[3] (Russian: Ирина Валерьевна Шайхлисламова; Tatar: İrina Şəyxelislamova; born 6 January 1986), known professionally as Irina Shayk (/ʃeɪk/),[4] is a Russian fashion model. She received international recognition when she appeared as the first Russian model on the cover of the 2011 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. In 2022, the website Models.com placed her on their list of the New Supers.
In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Valeryevna and the family name is Shaykhlislamova.
Irina Shayk
- Fashion model
- television personality
- Cristiano Ronaldo (2010–2015)
- Bradley Cooper (2015–2019)
1
1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Dark Brown
Green
- The Society Management (New York)
- Elite Model Management (Paris, Barcelona)
- Models 1 (London)[2]
Early life[edit]
Shayk was born in Yemanzhelinsk (Chelyabinsk Oblast region), Soviet Union, to a Volga Tatar father, Valery Shaykhlislamov (Şəyxelislamov, from Shaykh al-Islām[5]), a coal miner, and ethnic Russian mother, Olga, a kindergarten music teacher.[6] She has stated that she inherited her looks from her father and that people often mistake her for being South American, saying, "My father was dark skinned, because he was Tatar, sometimes Tatars can look Brazilian. I get my light eyes from my mother."[6] She has one sibling, a sister named Tatiana Petenkova. She is also an aunt to Tatiana's three children including a niece named "Irina" after her.[7]
Shayk started playing piano at age six. At age nine, she enrolled in a music school and studied there for seven years, both playing the piano and singing in the choir, since her mother wanted her to study music.[8] Her father died of complications of pneumonia when she was 14, leaving her family with little money and forcing her mother to work two jobs to provide for the family.[6]
After high school, Shayk studied marketing[8] but later instead chose to enter a beauty school with her older sister. While there, she was noticed by a person from a local modeling agency who was struck by her beauty. She was urged to participate in the "Miss Chelyabinsk 2004" beauty contest, which she won; she described this contest as far below the standard of beauty contests one would expect in metropolitan European cities or in the United States.[9]
Personal life[edit]
Shayk met Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009. They started dating soon after and got engaged in 2011, when Ronaldo flew to New York on Valentine’s Day and proposed to her. Their relationship came to an end in January 2015.[44]
In spring 2015, she started dating American actor Bradley Cooper.[45] Their daughter was born in Los Angeles on March 21, 2017.[46] The couple split up in June 2019.[47]
Philanthropy[edit]
Shayk is a benefactor of a maternity hospital in her hometown of Yemanzhelinsk. She and her sister helped rebuild the children's ward of the local hospital, and now Shayk raises money on behalf of a Russian charity, Pomogi – "Help" (Russian: Помоги), which provides care to sick children.[6] Shayk is the official ambassador for Pomogi in Russia.[48]
She is an ambassador for the Food Bank for New York City as well as the ASPCA.
She is against the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, has stated an intention of donating to UNICEF and Red Cross to support their humanitarian efforts in Ukraine, and has asked her followers to donate too.[49]