Will Tia Blanco Be Named peta2’s ‘Sexiest Vegetarian’?

For Immediate Release:
August 1, 2014

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Sports magazines, movies, and more are packed with hot young stars whose compassion for animals and concern for their own health or the environment prompted them to go vegetarian or vegan—but who are the Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrities of 2014? That’s what peta2—PETA’s youth division, whose motto says, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—hopes to determine with this year’s edition of its annual contest, now live at peta2.com. The nominees are more varied than ever, and pro surfer Tia Blanco is competing for the honor alongside indie rockers, Disney stars, punk icons, Oscar winners, pro athletes, and others. The winners—one male and one female—will be announced on August 25.

A lifelong vegetarian, Blanco—who will compete at the Vans US Open of Surfing on Saturday—went vegan within the last year, and she has never felt better. “I just feel a difference in my recovery levels, my energy levels, and I feel like a better person,” she says. “I feel that I’m living a healthy and happier lifestyle. And I think it has really impacted my surfing and my performance.”

The full list of nominees—which also includes Jared Leto and Ellen Page (whom PETA named the sexiest vegan celebrities for 2014) as well as musicians Juanes and Grimes, Entertainment Tonight correspondent Rocsi Diaz, and mixed martial arts fighter Akira Corassani—is available here. Voting to help peta2 pick who it should name as the winners ends on August 22.