Sofia Hayat

Sofia Hayat is a British singer, actress and television personality known for her appearances in Indian television and cinema. She participated in Bigg Boss 7, the Indian version of Big Brother, in 2013.

Early and personal life
Hayat was born and raised in a conservative Muslim family in Gravesend, Kent in 1974. She is of Pakistani and Indian heritage and pursued a degree in performing arts from the University of Brighton.

In her autobiography Dishonoured: How I Escaped An Arranged Marriage And Survived An Honour Killing To Become A Star (2009; John Blake Publishing Ltd.) she discusses her troubled relationship with her conservative family including a forced arranged marriage in Pakistan and how she escaped it (including a subsequent planned honour killing) to begin a career in entertainment.

She married Romanian Vlad Stanescu in April 2017 but they separated after an year. Hayat claimed that he had tried to scam her out of her London property.

Media career
In July 2012, Hayat was named the new "Curvy Icon" by Vogue Italia. In September 2013, Hayat named on the FHM sexiest women in the world list in position 81.

She was a contestant on Bigg Boss 7 in 2013. She entered as a wild card entry but got evicted on 12th week on 8 December 2013 (Day 84).

She has released 2 music albums, Dishonour and Wisdom of The Mother.

Filmography

 * 2007 Exitz as Beauty
 * 2008 Cash and Curry as Dharmi
 * 2009 The Unforgettable
 * 2012 Diary of a Butterfly (Hindi) as Carol
 * 2012 Naachle London as Rani
 * 2013 Bollywood Carmen  for BBC as Sophia
 * 2016 Six X as Ashmit Patel's Girlfriend
 * 2017 Aksar 2

Discography

 * 2015 Mein Ladki Hoon (Music Video)

Spirituality
In June 2016, Hayat announced that she had embraced spirituality and become a nun. She adopted the name Gaia Sofia Mother.