Patricia (Tricia) Helfer (born January 2, 1974), is a Canadian film and television actress and a former Victoria's Secret model. Helfer was born in the rural community of Donalda, Alberta, Canada. She was raised on her family's grain farm. At the age of 17, while standing in line at a local movie theatre, she was "discovered" by modelling agency scout Kelly Streit. In 1992, she won Ford's Supermodel of the World Contest and was subsequently signed to the Elite modeling agency. Modelling clothes for Givenchy, Christian Dior, Claude Montana and Emanuel Ungaro, Helfer has also appeared on the covers of fashion magazines ELLE (August 1993), Amica Italia (November 1996), Cosmopolitan (July 1998), and Vogue. She has done photo assignments for Chanel's Cristalle perfume and Victoria's Secret lingerie. |