Former Miss Universe Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters, the wife of former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow, was once the victim of a terrifying car-jacking attempt.
Demi-Leigh, who was crowned Miss Universe and Miss South America in 2017, was accosted by armed men at a red light that same year but managed to escape after they tried making off with her. The 29-year-old model revealed via FOX News Digital as much while promoting her new book, “A Crown That Lasts.”
“Shortly after I won Miss South Africa [March 26, 2017], about three months later, I was on my way to an event as the official Miss South Africa … And I was stopped at a red traffic light,” she explained. “And before I could even blink, I was surrounded by five men, by multiple men, and some of them were armed.”
The South African said her father had forced her to take driving courses and self-defense classes.
“In that traumatic situation, I knew not to go to the second destination, because whatever is about to happen somewhere downtown, in some dark alley with [maybe more people present] is not going to be better than right here: broad daylight, peak-hour traffic with hundreds of people around me,” she continued.
“And, so, I tried to run away. I tried to get out of that vehicle. The man on my side of the vehicle grabbed me, pushed me back into the vehicle, said, ‘Get in, you’re going with us.’”
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Demi-Leigh was not too afraid to defend herself and revealed having punched one of her would-be kidnappers in the throat before running away.
“The throat. It’s obviously lethal,” she said. “So please don’t ever try this at home. It’s absolutely just to be used in a life-threatening situation. But I punched him as hard as I could in his throat, and that bought me a split-second window of opportunity to run away.”
She recalled the getaway being as traumatic as the attempt itself, as she had no idea whether she was being chased down or about to be shot while running away.
“I remember looking over my shoulder, not knowing if I’m being chased and [about to be] shot in the back, not knowing what their intent was. I just knew that it was not good,” she added.
“That moment really broke my heart and made me never want to be one of the [people behind] the many car windows that I knocked on, begging, asking, yelling for help. I want to be the one girl that eventually stopped for me … to help somebody in need.”
Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters and Tim Tebow started dating during her reign as Miss Universe in 2017. They tied the knot in 2020, having gotten engaged the year before.
