Ready to take on the world in 2010, quite literally, is Limerick’s Kamal Ibrahim, otherwise known as Mr Ireland who will travel to Korea in March to compete for the Mr World international title.
The Mr Ireland competition was held in Limerick city last summer and one of our very own local boys, Kamal Ibrahim, claimed the title of Mr Ireland 2009.
A familiar face on the local modelling scene, Kamal had been working as a part-time model with the Holman Lee Agency for over five years and since winning the title has become one of the handful of full time male models working in the country. He also works as a host and presenter, in demand up and down the country since his becoming Mr Ireland.
“It’s not as easy or as glamorous as people may think, a lot of time and work goes into what I do and it can often be disappointing but it’s all worth it when the work pays off,” Kamal told me this week.
Kamal is now signed with John Compton’s Dublin based agency, Compton Models, however over the past few months Kamal has caught the eye of some of the top agencies in Ireland and the UK. He will soon be working with Alison campbell, one of the biggest agencies in Northern Ireland and has made plans to visit the UK in the coming months.
Social highs
When asked what the biggest change has been since his win, Kamal says his social life has been elevated to something he never thought he would experience. “Since I won the competition I have met and made friends with some amazing people like Rosanna Davison, Louis Walsh, Alexandra Burke and even Colin Farrell to mention but a few. It’s a funny feeling looking around the room and seeing all these people there with you but I’m enjoying every minute of it.”
Korea in March 2010
There is now only six weeks to go until the Mr World 2010 final which will be held at Seoul, Korea. The competition will begin on March 11 and the final live telecast will take place on March 27 when Spain’s Juan García Postigo who won the title in 2007 will hand over the title to his successor. Mr World 2010 is expected to hit television screens in over 80 countries around the globe to millions of viewers and the man representing Ireland is doing his best to prepare himself for the experience of a lifetime. Kamal will be travelling to the South Korean capital of Seoul and will spend close to four weeks competing for the world title. The winner will leave with a cash prize of $50,000 dollars, as well as thousands of dollars worth of designer clothing, and lucrative contracts worth upwards of $100,000 which will take the winner to several of the fashion capitals of the world including New York, London, Paris, Milan and Tokyo. The winner will, of course, also take away with them the title of Mr World – “the world’s most desirable man”. The scale of the competition isn’t phasing our local lad however and he realises he must enjoy every moment of his reign, “It’s going to be the experience of a lifetime but like everything else it [being Mr Ireland] has an expiration date. I only have a certain amout of time to make the most of the opportunity that I have been given. I put faith in everything that I do and I can only hope that in the end it will pay off,” says Kamal.
Kamal will spend most of his time over the next six weeks training for the competition while continuing to model. Kamal also works part-time in Trinity Rooms nightclub in Limerick City.
