By Mark Squibb/February 3, 2022
Leigh Bursey says his wife Jaida-Leigh Dubois-Bursey blows his mind — and he hopes that voters in an international tattoo modelling contest are equally blown away.
Bursey has entered an Inked Magazine model contest, and as of Tuesday, February 1, she was ranked fourth out of 35 other randomly selected contestants in her group in the first round.
After several more rounds, one winner will be picked. That winner will receive $25,000 in cash, and the opportunity to grace the cover of Inked Magazine.
“Embracing this journey is something her and I have sort of done together,” said Bursey. “I’ve played the role of loving husband, and coordinator, and manager type character, but the truth is, she’s always been beautiful, since the first time I saw her.”
Bursey explained there’s an additional charitable component. Folks can ‘purchase’ votes, with proceeds going towards MusiCares, a not-for-profit that helps musicians during times of financial, personal, or medical distress.
Of Jaida’s tattoos, a tree along her wrist and forearm ranks among her favorites. Many of her tattoos are based upon the popular massive multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft.
The Mount Pearl couple first heard of the contest through a social media ad.
“She has a modelling page on Instagram that has 11,400 followers,” said Leigh. “It’s blown up significantly the last six or eight months.”
The couple saw a promoted post that appeared in her Instagram feed one day, and Jaida decided to enter.
“Between the two of us, we spearheaded an effort to get her face in front of as many people as possible,” said Bursey, who added that modeling has given his wife a major confidence boost.
“Both her and I were at one-point or another homeless youths,” said Bursey. “We’ve both gone through family circumstances… everybody goes through various obstacles, relationship turmoil, personal and professional setbacks, and she’s also had a lot of health obstacles, and many times it’s definitely had a pretty negative impact on her confidence, which I think is tragic, because I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone more beautiful in my life. Everyday I wake up and look at my wife, and go, ‘Oh my gosh, I can’t believe this is real.’”
The couple, who had been living in Ontario, were married this past September. They made a trip to Newfoundland in August to visit some of Bursey’s family — and ended up moving to Mount Pearl.
They put in a bid on a home after viewing it digitally, and the deal closed during their honeymoon. The couple moved to the Newfoundland in early November, where Bursey found a job at The Gathering Place.
Votes can be cast at the Inked Magazine website.