Hotties' Dedication to Helping Animals Earns Them Free Trips to Hawaii
For Immediate
Release:
May 24, 2012
Contact:
Shakira Croce 202-483-7382
Norfolk, Va. — PETA is ready to announce the winners of its 2012 Sexiest Vegetarian Next Door competition: 28-year-old Brooklynite Zachary Koval and 22-year-old Californian Tiana Rae Tran. The pair beat out 18 other finalists to be crowned the winners of PETA's contest, and each will take home the grand prize of a free trip for two to Hawaii, courtesy of the PETA Member Advantage Program.
Koval went vegetarian at the age of 10 and went vegan two and a half years ago. Since then, his example has led multiple friends and family members—including his parents—to eat less meat or go vegetarian. When he's not performing with his theater ensemble or working at the vegan Café Blossom, Koval loves cooking and eating with a gay vegan potluck group. He attributes his buff physique to running, swimming, biking, participating in mud races, rock climbing, doing yoga, and, of course, eating vegan meals and says, "No animals were harmed in the making of this body."
Tran, a student at San Jose State University, went vegetarian five years ago and now shares PETA's "Meet Your Meat" video with friends and family as often as she can. Fluent in Chinese and skilled at playing the Chinese harp, Tran has multiple Asian-American beauty pageant titles to her name, including Miss National Asia. Although she loves the energy boost that her vegetarian diet has given her, her favorite part of being vegetarian is her lighter conscience. "I no longer have to worry about the day I enter heaven and have to look into the eyes of all those I have eaten and apologize," says Tran. "There is this sense of peace, well-being, and connectedness that comes with being vegetarian."
"Vegetarians' boosted health and energy—and their kindness toward animals—make them sexy inside and out," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. "Our winners' outer beauty is obvious to anyone who meets them, and it's their passion for helping animals that helps make them winners in PETA's book."
Photos of the winners, who are available for interviews, can be found here. For more information, please visit PETA.org or click here.