Russian Bride Success Story- Natasha Galkina

Natasha Galkina came to fame as a contestant in last year’s American’s Next Top Model, Cycle 8. Natasha started out as one of the weakest contestants in the pack, just narrowly avoiding elimination in the second episode, but after her near miss she quickly became one of the strongest models in the competition. She won over the show’s judges as well as their viewers earning her the title of Covergirl of the Week / viewer favorite 3 different weeks as the season aired. Her positive attitude, optimistic outlook on life, and bright smile took her all the way through the competition to a spot in the final two. In the end her catwalk skills were not strong enough to take the crown and Natasha was named runner-up. 

Beautiful and sexy Natasha was born in 1985 in the city of Rostov, Russia. She moved to Moscow as a teen to attend university there. Natasha married American Stuart Hagler, 21 years her senior, when she was nearly 20 years old. They started communicating when she was 18 and living in Moscow where he visited her and continued their international romance for nearly a year before finally tying the knot.

When asked about her marriage she says, “You know, we have a great relationship with my husband. We met like other people meet each other. It was natural, we dated for a little bit less than a year, and I got married when I was almost 20 and after the year from the date of our marriage, and I got the beautiful baby and I was very, very happy with him. He’s very romantic, he’s very nice, he takes care of me and he loves me to death and I love him very much.”

Natasha moved from Moscow to Richardson, Texas where she married Stuart. A year later Natasha gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Angelina. They are still happily married and living in Richardson, TX, with their daughter, to this day.

How does she react to being called a Mail Order Bride? “… when they said ‘mail-order bride‘ I didn’t even know what that was! I had to have someone tell me. And that’s not what I am. You know how these men do intercontinental stuff? We dated before I came over to America.”

Even though she was born and raised in Russia Natasha says she considers herself american because, “I’m in America and I want to represent America because this is the country that changed my life”.

Since the TV show has ended she has landed a contract with Muse NYC models and has shot covers for both Modern Luxury Houston and DC magazines. She also has been approached with several television offers and we expect to see her returning to television in the near future.