Dr Cheryl Marie Cordeiro, 37, Miss Universe Singapore 1999

After it was revealed that she was pursuing two master's degrees, Ms Cheryl Marie Cordeiro became known widely as "the beauty with brains" when she was crowned Miss Universe Singapore in 1999.

She obtained those degrees - one in English language from the National University of Singapore and another in Information Studies from Nanyang Technological University - in 2000 and 2001 respectively.

Now known as Dr Cordeiro, the 37-year-old graduated with a doctorate in general linguistics in 2009 from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, where she is currently a research fellow.

The former Katong Convent girl has lived in the Scandinavian country for the last decade.

A child model who appeared in advertisements for brands such as Tangs, Metro and McDonald's, she ventured into acting after bagging her double masters.

In 2001, she acted in Brand New Towkay, a home-grown sitcom that aired on Channel 5, and had a small part in One Leg Kicking, a home-grown movie by director Eric Khoo.

But modelling and showbusiness were not her interests, says the Victoria Junior College alumna.

"I wanted to focus on my academic career as my passion lies in academia," she says in an e-mail interview.

So she left for Sweden in 2002 to do a PhD in linguistics "out of a sense of adventure and pure curiosity about Scandinavia".

In 2006, she married a Swedish marketing consultant, but the couple called it quits in 2011.

Mastering the Swedish language and adapting to the extreme temperatures there were among her biggest challenges, she says.

She now speaks fluent Swedish and is long used to the weather.

Read the full interview here.

(Photos: Cheryl Marie Cordeiro, ST, TNP, Miss Universe Singapore)