Amidst a flurry of rumours about the heritage of Ms. Jamaica, Kaci Fennel, beauty queen enthusiasts in the Philippines may be disappointed to learn that Fennel is, in fact, NOT part-Filipino.
Rumours had resurfaced that the Jamaican beauty was born to a Filipino mother, after Fennel bagged the fourth runner-up spot in the recently concluded Miss Universe 2015 pageant. But this wrong information was squelched by Fennel herself, months before the pageant was even held.
Speaking to Jamaican media in September 2014, Fennel said that her parents are both Jamaican and cautioned people against relying solely on Wikipedia – which was responsible for disseminating the wrong information about the beauty queen – as a source of reference
“Kids don’t use Wikipedia as a source of information. Listen to your teachers! First, one wrong thing, I was born in 1992. And then they started adding things like my mother is a beauty queen and she is Filipino. And I was like, ‘Oh, wow tell me more about Kaci Fennell. I want to know some more.’…My mother is Jamaican. Both from them (parents) came from mixed families,” she said.
Likewise, in an Instagram post on August 11, 2014, Fennel explained that she is of mixed ancestry, but there is no Filipino blood in that mix..
She made the clarification in response to Instagram user, http.awesomest, who asked: “Hi @kacifenfen in wikipedia, it says that you have Jamaican, African and Filipino roots. Is it true that your mom is Filipino? Can you please confirm? Coz sometimes, Wiki is a bit too unreliable. Thank you!”
“Thanks for bringing that to my attention,” Fennel replied, “but I am a born and bred Jamaican with French, Indian, English and black roots. Both my parents are Jamaican as well.”