Rochelle Rao Sequeira (née Rao; born 25 November 1988) is an Indian actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder. She was crowned Femina Miss India International in 2012 and represented India at the Miss International 2012. She was a contestant on the reality shows Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 6, Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi 5, Bigg Boss 9 and Nach Baliye 9. She also appeared as a main character in The Kapil Sharma Show.

Rochelle Rao
Rao at the 2017 ITA Awards
Born
Rochelle Rao

(1988-11-25) 25 November 1988 (age 35)[2]
Alma materM.O.P. Vaishnav College for Women[3]
Occupations
  • Model
  • Actress
Spouse
(m. 2018)
RelativesPaloma Rao (sister)
Modeling information
Height5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)[1]

Early life

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Rochelle Rao was born in Chennai on 25 November 1988. Her father, Nicolas V Rao, of Telugu-German ancestry is a naturalist while her mother, Wendy Rao, is an Anglo-Indian.[4] Her sister Paloma Rao is also an actress.

She holds a BSc in electronic media from MOP Vaishnav College for Women, Chennai.[3]

Femina Miss India

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Rochelle Rao competed in the fifth Pantaloons Femina Miss India South pageant in January 2012 where she was first runner up. She lost the title to Shamata Anchan.[5] She later participated at Femina Miss India and emerged as the Femina Miss India International 2012 winner. She has also won three subtitles. "Miss Glamorous Diva", "Miss Ramp Walk", "Miss Body Beautiful". She represented India at Miss International 2012 pageant held in October 2012 (Okinawa, Japan) where she ranked ninth out of 68 countries.[6]

Year Title Role Result
2012 Miss India South Herself/Contestant 1st runner-up
Femina Miss India Winner
Miss International 2012 (Top 15 Semi finalists)

Career

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She won the Femina Miss India International 2012[7] crown. Prior to this she was a model and anchor in Chennai. Rochelle was crowned by the outgoing titleholder Ankita Shorey.

She later turned host for season six of the Indian Premier League.[8] Currently living in Mumbai, she has anchored various events and TV shows. She has also featured in many men's magazines.[9][10]

 
Rochelle Rao with Keith Sequeira at the premiere of Calendar Girls

She was featured in the February 2014 page of the Kingfisher calendar.[11]

In August 2013, Rochelle was seen in Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa season 6 which aired on Colors as a wild card entrant. She did not get chosen for the show as she did her performance.

She was also seen in season 5 of the show Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi in 2014. She was the second contestant to be eliminated from the show that was hosted by Rohit Shetty. In late 2014 she was seen on an adventurous travel show on Fox Life called Life Mein Ek Baar along with Evelyn Sharma, Pia Trivedi and Mahek Chahal.[12]

In 2015, Rao became a contestant on the Indian reality TV series, Bigg Boss 9 along with boyfriend Keith Sequeira.[13][14] She was paired with Prince Narula but later changed with Rimi Sen.[15]

Rochelle Rao also hosted Aug 2022 India's Laughter Champion show successfully.[16]

Rao is currently playing various roles in the comedy show The Kapil Sharma Show on Sony TV which started in April 2016.[17]

She was last seen in 1962: The War in the Hills as Rimpa.

Filmography

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Television

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Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2001 Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 6 Contestant Not selected
Life Mein Ek Baar
2014 Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi 5 16th place (Evicted in 3rd week)
2015–2016 Bigg Boss 9 3rd runner-up [13]
2016–2022 The Kapil Sharma Show Nurse Lottery Season 1
Chingaari Season 2 [18]
Mr. Damodar's assistant Season 3
2019 Nach Baliye 9 Contestant 14th place
2022 India's Laughter Champion Host season 1

Web Series

Year Title Role
2021 1962: The War in the Hills Rimpa

References

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  1. ^ Rochelle Maria Rao – Profile. Beautypageants.indiatimes.com (10 February 2012). Retrieved on 2015-10-23.
  2. ^ Team Rochelle Rao on Twitter: "@RochelleRaoFC 25 th november.. I'm a Sagittarius and this year is special as I turned 25 on the 25th!". Twitter.com (22 March 2014). Retrieved on 2015-10-23.
  3. ^ a b "Rochelle Maria Rao: Lesser known facts ". The Times of India. 22 January 2016. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  4. ^ @rochellemrao (20 April 2013). "Dad-german\Telegu Mom-Anglo Indian!born&lived in Chennai&moved2Mumbai last year post winnin Miss India International" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  5. ^ B'lore girl Shamata is Femina Miss India South – The Times of India. Articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com (23 December 2011). Retrieved on 2015-10-23.
  6. ^ "All eyes on Rochelle Maria Rao". Archived from the original on 4 April 2013. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  7. ^ Miss India – Miss Diva – World Pageants – Indiatimes.com Archived 15 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Feminamissindia.indiatimes.com. Retrieved on 23 October 2015.
  8. ^ "Miss India International Rochelle Maria Rao and Bigg Boss 6 hottie Karishma Kotak to glam up IPL 6". Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  9. ^ Men's magazine 1 Archived 30 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Gqindia.com (22 February 1999). Retrieved on 2015-10-23.
  10. ^ Men's magazine 2 Archived 26 October 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Gqindia.com (22 February 1999). Retrieved on 2015-10-23.
  11. ^ "Rochelle Rao - Kingfisher Calendar Girl". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  12. ^ "Rochelle Maria Rao eliminated from Khatron Ke Khiladi". The Times of India.
  13. ^ a b "Bigg Boss 9 Contestant No 9: Rochelle Maria Rao, beauty with brains, to set BB on fire!". 11 October 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  14. ^ "Want to connect with Hindi audience with 'Bigg Boss': Rochelle Rao". 13 October 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  15. ^ "Rishabh deserved to win, he never stopped entertaining us: Rochelle Rao". Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  16. ^ India's Laughter Champion
  17. ^ "After Bigg Boss 9, Rochelle Rao turns comedian with The Kapil Sharma Show?". Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  18. ^ Farzeen, Sana (29 December 2018). "Rochelle Rao on The Kapil Sharma Show: The audience expects a lot from us". The Indian Express.
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Awards and achievements
Preceded by Miss International India
2012
Succeeded by