Katrin Gray
Katrin Gray | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 5, 1985 |
| Nationality | German |
| Occupation | Model |
| Years active | 2008–present |
Katrin Gray, (born September 5, 1985) professionally known as Mermaid Kat, is an underwater stunt woman, book author, actress and German reality TV star. She is specialised in underwater performances, for which she often wears mermaid costumes that were designed for professional freediving. She is also an ocean activist and counts as one of the most recognised figures in modern mermaiding.[1]
Early life
Gray was born and raised in Hanover, Germany. Her carrier started in 2006 when she was crowned to “Miss Germany International 2006” and “Germanys Bridal Model 2006”. Even though she was qualified for the Miss International Pageant, Gray didn’t enter the competition in order to finish her apprenticeship in an insurance company. In further beauty pageants Gray was crowned to “Queen of the World Germany 2007” and “Sea Star Girl 2008”.
Career
In 2008 Gray started her international modelling carrier. As a fashion model, she worked in several countries including China, Thailand and Australia. In 2012, she was voted to one of the “Top Models of Asia” by Think Design Magazine.
In 2010 the model moved to Australia. The German TV Show “Goodbye Deutschland” followed her emigration and made her a reality TV star in Germany. In 2012 this TV show aired another series about Gray about her time living in Thailand. In 2018 the third series about Gray was aired in Germany.
In 2011 Gray moved to Phuket (Thailand), where she continued modelling and also became a scuba diving instructor. In May 2012 Gray started working as an underwater model and professional mermaid under her artist name “Mermaid Kat’.[2] Gray features music videos, commercials and TV series. She has been interviewed for many international newspapers and TV programs, including a live interview on the morning show Australia.[3]
In August 2012 Gray opened the “Mermaid Kat Academy”, the world’s first public mermaid school in Thailand. Until know her mermaid academy has trained over 6,000 new mermaids in over 10 different countries.[4] The main base of her mermaid school is now in Germany, where her team currently teaches regular mermaid courses in 6 different states. After Gray moved back to Australia in 2015, she opened more branches of her mermaid school in Western Australia and Queensland.
Since April 2013 Gray manufactures mermaid swimming fins and mermaid tails and sells these through her online shops.
In January 2016, Gray and former NASA Astronaut Dr. Leroy Chiao became the official signature characters of the Asian luxury cruise company Dream Cruises. Since then Gray joins the two cruise ships regularly, performs as a mermaid, teaches mermaid classes onboard and gives enrichment talks about her life as a real mermaid and ocean conservation.
Ocean activism
Gray has supported a large number of projects and campaigns to create awareness for the ocean’s ecosystem. For these, the underwater stunt woman works in extreme conditions.[5] Her deepest photo shoot happened at 42m under the surface. For the shark-saving campaign “Facing Grace”, Gray was the first person to swim with wild tiger sharks whilst wearing a mermaid tail. In September 2018, the underwater stuntwoman posed next to some wild American Saltwater Crocodiles. The photos are being used for a campaign against products made out of crocodile leather. Additionally, to campaigns against crocodile leather and the finning of sharks, Gray supported projects against ocean pollution and overfishing in conjunction with organisations such as Sea Shepherd, Ocean Geographic or Project Aware. For ocean awareness campaigns, she performed in the aquariums Aquaria KLCC (Malaysia), Underwater World Pattaya (Thailand) and AQUA (Aquarium of Western Australia).
In 2018 Gray published her first textbook on mermaiding in Germany.
Filmography
- 2012: The Far Cry Experience, Girl who got shot on the boat
- 2014: Prêt à tout, Girlfriend
- 2016: Soko Wismar, Anne Lausik[6]
References
- ^ "Meet Perth's very own mermaid". Stephanie McKenna, Perth Herald Sun. September 30, 2017
- ^ "Phuket: The makings of a German mermaid". Jody Houton, Phuket News. June 9 2013
- ^ "Leard how to be a mermaid at the Mermaid Kat Academy". Billie Dunn, Daily Mail, Australia. October 17 2017
- ^ "Mermaid Academy". The Morning Show, Yahoo News. October 24 2017}}
- ^ "Chance to fish for a wish". Tyler Brown, Joondalup Community News. Fevbruary 2 2016
- ^ "The little mermaid". zdf.de. June 1 2018