Wendy Thembelihle Juel is a fashion model with Danish and South African roots whose professional credits predate the public attention surrounding her relationship with Khaby Lame. She also works under the shorter name Wendy Juel, which appears in agency portfolios and published fashion projects.
Many readers recognize her as the former wife of the Senegalese-Italian content creator. However, her documented story includes modeling work dating to at least 2017, a Copenhagen fashion shoot in 2018, and representation listed by agencies in Europe and the United States. Their separation became public in May 2024, while financial rumors circulating much later have no reliable supporting evidence.
Wendy Thembelihle Juel at a Glance
| Detail | Documented information |
|---|---|
| Full public name | Wendy Thembelihle Juel |
| Professional name | Wendy Juel |
| Profession | Fashion model |
| Background | Danish and South African |
| Birth country | Denmark, according to Vanity Fair Italia |
| Published modeling credits | At least as early as 2017 |
| Agency listings | Skins Model Management and Wilhelmina Miami |
| Height | 176 cm, according to Skins Model Management |
| Former spouse | Khabane “Khaby” Lame |
| Marriage | Religious ceremony in Senegal, reported in 2023 |
| Separation announcement | Publicly reported by May 9, 2024 |
| @wendyjuel |
Danish and South African Background
Vanity Fair Italia described Juel as a Denmark-born model of South African origin. Its May 2024 report also identified Copenhagen as her residence at that time.
These details establish her reported birthplace and family background, but they do not confirm a particular citizenship arrangement. Descriptions such as “Danish-South African” should therefore be understood as references to her background rather than proof of dual nationality.
Her exact birth date and age are not publicly verified through a dependable source. Likewise, the available reporting does not establish her parents’ names, siblings, schools, or qualifications.
The earliest clear records concern her professional work. They provide a firmer starting point for her biography than unsupported accounts of her childhood or claims about when she first wanted to become a model.
A Modeling Career Documented Before Her Celebrity Relationship
A useful early credit appears in the April 2017 edition of the Fair Fashion Guide. The publication names Wendy Juel as a model associated with Le Management, alongside fellow model Julius Gerhardt.
That credit places her in published fashion work several years before her relationship with Lame attracted widespread coverage. It does not establish the exact beginning of her career, but it confirms that modeling was already part of her professional life by 2017.
A more detailed project followed in October 2018. Lifestyle publication Life Without Andy featured Juel in a Copenhagen shoot showcasing Tommy Jeans clothing.
The feature credited her full name, Wendy Thembelihle Juel, and named Le Management as her agency. Mitchell Tomlinson photographed the project, which used the Danish capital as its setting.
The clothing included dungarees, a varsity bomber jacket, zipper pants, and a colorblock V-neck T-shirt. These specific credits document an identifiable fashion assignment rather than a general claim that she worked with major brands.
The distinction matters: appearing in a published shoot featuring a label’s clothing does not automatically establish a long-term brand ambassadorship. The 2018 feature supports her participation in that project without requiring broader assumptions about her contract.
Agency Representation and Professional Identity
Juel’s professional profiles connect her to modeling markets beyond Denmark. Skins Model Management in Amsterdam lists her under her full name, while Wilhelmina’s Miami women’s division lists her as Wendy Juel.
Both agency pages provide portfolios and professional details. Skins lists her height as 1.76 meters, while Wilhelmina gives 5 feet 9½ inches—slightly different measurements that place her at roughly the same height.
These listings also help confirm that Wendy Juel and Wendy Thembelihle Juel refer to the same professional model. Wilhelmina connects its profile to the social media name @wendyjuel.
Her agency portfolios remained publicly accessible when checked in October 2026. That establishes a continuing public professional presence, although an agency page alone cannot confirm her latest booking, income, or schedule.
Her published work and agency representation form the strongest evidence for her occupation. They support describing her as a working fashion model without adding unverified awards, business ventures, or claims about her standing among the industry’s highest-paid names.
Her Relationship With Khaby Lame
Juel’s relationship with Khaby Lame introduced her to a much larger entertainment audience. Lame became internationally recognizable through short comedy videos in which he silently responds to unnecessarily complicated everyday tasks.
The available reliable coverage does not establish exactly when or where they first met. Accounts that present a detailed first meeting, courtship, or proposal narrative therefore go beyond what the public record firmly supports.
Reports place their religious marriage ceremony in Senegal in 2023. However, the precise timing is inconsistent across publications.
Corriere della Sera’s May 2024 account identified September 2023 as the wedding month. Other later reports gave November, while some contemporary coverage described the marriage more loosely as having taken place about a year earlier. Without a public wedding record or a clear first-person clarification, an exact wedding date remains uncertain.
What is better established is the nature of the ceremony. When the relationship ended, Lame’s manager, Nicola Paparusso, said the couple had married exclusively through a Muslim religious rite.
Their Appearance at the 2024 Academy Awards
Juel and Lame appeared together at the 96th Academy Awards on March 10, 2024. Shutterstock’s editorial archive identifies both of them in photographs from the arrivals in Los Angeles.
The dated photographs provide a clear point in their public chronology: they attended the Oscars together roughly two months before reports announced their separation.
They also show how Juel’s public visibility expanded during the relationship. Her earlier credits came from fashion publications and agency portfolios; the Academy Awards placed her in widely distributed entertainment photography.
The Separation Became Public in May 2024
Italian news agency DIRE reported the separation on May 9, 2024. Vanity Fair Italia followed with its report on May 10, making clear that the breakup was already public at that point.
Paparusso attributed the separation to unexpected and irreparable differences in the couple’s personalities. That explanation came from Lame’s manager; it should not be presented as a detailed personal account from Juel.
The manager also said no civil separation procedure was necessary because the marriage had involved only a religious ceremony. This is an important qualification when describing the breakup.
Although headlines commonly use “divorce,” the manager’s statement does not support assumptions about a conventional civil divorce case, courtroom proceedings, or a court-ordered settlement. It describes the circumstances of this particular marriage rather than establishing a general rule about religious marriages.
Reliable reporting has not established that Juel and Lame had children together. Nor does the evidence reviewed confirm a later marriage or publicly announced new partner for Juel.
Net Worth and the Financial Rumors
No credible public estimate establishes Wendy Thembelihle Juel’s net worth. Her documented occupation is modeling, but her contracts, fees, assets, and annual earnings are not publicly verified.
Her former husband’s commercial success cannot serve as a measure of her personal wealth. Likewise, agency representation does not reveal what an individual model earns.
In 2026, social media posts circulated a story claiming that Juel sought part of Lame’s fortune but discovered his assets belonged to his father. Other versions claimed she would instead have to share her own wealth with him.
Italian fact-checking publication Facta investigated the story and found it baseless. It reported that no reliable sources supported the alleged financial dispute or the supposed reversal involving Juel’s assets.
Facta also traced an early version to Facebook posts from late March 2026 that initially named a different former partner of Lame. The story’s changing identity further undermines its credibility.
These claims do not establish Juel’s wealth, a settlement amount, or a legal judgment. They also should not be mistaken for evidence that the couple separated in 2026; their breakup had already been reported in May 2024.
Public Work After the Marriage
Juel’s professional record extends beyond the relationship coverage. In addition to her accessible modeling portfolios, specialist television reporting named Wendy Juel among models appearing on The Bold and the Beautiful in 2026.
Soap Opera News included her in behind-the-scenes coverage of the show’s Logan fashion-house launch. Its photographs identified her alongside other models and cast member Heather Tom.
Soap Opera Network subsequently listed Wendy Juel, Marketa Lim, and Elena Moseikina as returning Logan models for the June 10, 2026 episode. This is a specific reported television appearance, rather than evidence of a leading acting role or a permanent cast contract.
The distinction keeps the scale of the work clear while adding a recent professional credit to her biography. Her documented activities include fashion publishing, agency portfolios, and appearances connected to a television fashion storyline.
The most useful way to follow Juel’s career is through those identifiable assignments. They provide a clearer account of her working life than recycled relationship headlines or unsupported financial stories.
Read This Bayard Martensen: His Finance Career and Connection to the Carver Family
