Her’s digital cover for April is scientist, model, actress and all-round super star, Pamela Uba.
“Make that space and show them what you’re made of.”
There is nobody out there quite like Pamela Uba.
A woman who has excelled in everything she’s taken on whether it be in education, in tech, in her modelling career and now, in her acting venture.
Pamela became the first black woman to win Miss Ireland in 2021. She then went on to represent the country in the Miss World competition.
She applied to be Miss Galway on the same day she was granted her Irish citizenship and said it was clearly a sign to go for it and we’re so glad she did.
Since then, she’s been smashing everything that she’s set her mind to, as we found out when we met up for a chat in the beautiful surrounds of Dublin’s Mama Yo restaurant.
“I wanted to do something wild”
Appearing in the last season of RTE’s Ultimate Hell Week proved how strong she is both physically and mentally.
Although entertaining for us to watch, Pamela said Hell Week was madness.
She told Her: “I drove down to Cork a few weeks ago and it just brought all the Hell Week memories back. I didn’t realise how much it triggered me. It was crazy.”
She shared what she found most difficult over the few days.
“In one episode we did this exercise where we were in a raid and when we went into the house, whatever tear gas they used was burning my skin. It was burning my eyes, I couldn’t breath, I didn’t know where to look.
“I literally had to leave within the first few seconds I don’t think I completed that one. I remember the DS shouting at me while I was choking.
“It was very scary but I loved it at the same time. I don’t think you’ll ever get that feeling of adrenaline or that thrill seeking moment until you do something like that.”
Pamela has always wanted to push herself out of her comfort zone and take on new challenges and so she felt that Ultimate Hell Week would give her that.
She said: “I wanted to do something wild and do something that I would never ever do.
“I want to do things that challenge me as a person so it definitely did all of that and certainly exceeded my expectations.”
As viewers we always wondered if the Drill Sergeants are as tough to recruits off screen as they are on screen so we asked Pamela to spill the tea.
“For the most part, I mean, after it all when it’s over and they become normal humans again, you realise that’s their job.
“These people are actually going out and being in these situations and they’re trying to simulate that so you can really get a feel for what it’s like day-to-day for them.”
She joked and said: “There’s one DS that I still can’t look at because he’s just too scary.”
Pamela has shown strength her entire life.
Growing up in the Irish direct provision programme isn’t easy but she said she has “never let it definite who I am.”
Over the year’s Pamela has been a great advocate for helping young children in the direct provision programme and has campaigned vigorously with Dídean Accommodation during her year as Miss Ireland.
Dídean Accommodation provide a community based social care alternative for people who need housing support. It was very much a passion project for Pamela.
She said: “I don’t want [direct provision] to define me and I never have let it define me.
“I found a way to push through it and I find it so important to say that for anyone going through it right now, remember that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
“Remember who you are and what you’re trying to achieve and just keep pushing for that. It’s hard but you can do it.”
She remembered her days at school and said her education was her “superpower”.
Pamela said: “I try not police children too much on school because it can mean different things to different people.
“But, school was a place for me to be creative. It was where I found my voice musically because I always did the school musical and it was a place where I got to explore my curiosity.
“It’s where I found my love for science and medicine. For me, it was the most positive space that I could have been in at the time.
“I saw it as my super-power and so I encourage kids to see it as that too.”
Pamela said she feels it’s important to push young girls in their education because some feel there aren’t enough opportunities out there for them.
She said: “Keep at it. If you feel there isn’t a space out there for you, you make that space. You show them.”
She’ll be on our screens soon..
Pamela also opened up about her new acting venture and what the next steps for her are.
She said she’s always thought of herself as a performer and that it’s something she’s loved her whole life.
Laughing she told Her: “It’s a weird line but when I was younger, I always said to my mum that I wanted to be a triple threat.
“I think it comes from watching people with amazing singing and acting careers.”
Pamela’s kick started her acting career and has been taking acting classes at The Gaiety Theatre and has even secured herself a new London based agent.
She said it’s all go in her life at the moment but she’s “putting in the hard work” with casting director, Louise Kiely.
After getting a taste for acting while playing a role in a recent Panto, Pamela is now focused on getting onto our TV screens.
We’ve no doubt she’ll succeed in this new challenge.
