--- title: Meet the 'Fiji Water Girl' Who Shined at 2019 Golden Globes description: How model Kelleth Cuthbert's life changed after becoming the viral 2019 Golden Globes' 'Fiji water girl.' Read the interview. canonical: https://time.com/5497235/fiji-water-girl-golden-globes-interview/ author: Rachel E. Greenspan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-01-08T21:35:13.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:12.072Z og:title: Meet the 'Fiji Water Girl' Who Won the Golden Globes og:description: The breakout star says life has changed dramatically og:url: https://time.com/5497235/fiji-water-girl-golden-globes-interview/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteb7f7f97ff46eabf/698942eabc6cfcc2ba3e7e09/kelleth-cuthbert-fiji-water-girl.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: kelleth-cuthbert-fiji-water-girl og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Meet the 'Fiji Water Girl' Who Won the Golden Globes twitter:description: The breakout star says life has changed dramatically twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteb7f7f97ff46eabf/698942eabc6cfcc2ba3e7e09/kelleth-cuthbert-fiji-water-girl.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'Life Has Changed Very Dramatically.' Meet the 'Fiji Water Girl' Who Became the Star of the 2019 Golden Globes > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME The Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition The Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors. The Brief brings TIME's perspective to the day's most important stories, helping readers understand not just what is happening, but why it matters. It combines original reporting and analysis with the best of TIME, spanning politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. 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Greenspan Jan 8, 2019 9:35 PM UTC  Kelleth Cuthbert walks by as Heidi Klum kisses her fiancé Tom Kaulitz at the 76th Annual Golden Globe Awards on Jan. 6, 2019 at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles, California. Kelleth Cuthbert walks by as Heidi Klum kisses her fiancé Tom Kaulitz at the 76th Annual Golden Globe Awards on Jan. 6, 2019 at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles, California.Stefanie Keenan—Getty Images for FIJI Water by [Rachel E. Greenspan](https://time.com/author/rachel-e-greenspan/) ## Rachel E. Greenspan Jan 8, 2019 9:35 PM UTC Kelleth Cuthbert is having a pretty good week. In just a couple of hours, the Los Angeles-based model became [the Internet crowned Fiji water girl sensation for holding water bottles](http://time.com/5495066/fiji-water-girl-76th-golden-globes/) at the [76th Golden Globes](http://time.com/5494359/2019-golden-globes-recap/). But if you’ve been on social media recently, you already know that. Pictures of the “Fiji water girl” in the background of celebrity red carpet photos have been circulating at an impressive pace since Sunday’s broadcast. Though she was just doing her job as one of Fiji’s brand ambassadors at the event (responsible for keeping all the stars hydrated), she ended up in photos with Tony Shalhoub, Idris Elba, Dakota Fanning and even Heidi Klum lovingly kissing her fiancé, which Cuthbert tells TIME was one of her favorite photos of the night. > [](https://twitter.com/QuinnKeaney/status/1082067381973856264) “I’ve worked with Fiji before, but this has never happened,” Cuthbert says. Originally from Toronto, Canada, Cuthbert has been working as a fashion model and commercial actress for twelve years, so she is certainly no stranger to Hollywood. “I think it’s fun to work the red carpet and look at the fashion, but I never get starstruck,” she says. Cuthbert says her [Instagram following](https://www.instagram.com/p/BsUJfMbn3cS/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fshare%5Fsheet&igshid=yhk7rc3jhbo1) was around 53,000 before Sunday’s event. At press time, she has 189,000 followers—more than 256 percent increase. Though she’s still working on trucking through all of the emails, messages and comments she’s gotten since the Globes, she’s already been featured on [the _Late Late Show with James Corden_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WhSeZKJJb0). And she’s gotten her fair share of marriage proposals on Instagram. But because Cuthbert herself has gone viral, Fiji inevitably has, too. This marketing ploy was more than successful: Marketing analytics firm Apex Marketing Group [estimates that Fiji would have had to spend $12 million](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/fiji-water-girl-helps-earn-230606803.html) for the same amount of brand exposure. But this wasn’t the first time the brand has worked with models in a similar fashion. Cuthbert has worked with Fiji at other events, including the Emmys. This one, luckily for both the brand and for the model, just happened to have some incredible photo-ops. Despite working in the industry for more than a decade, Cuthbert isn’t quite used to her newfound fame. “Just a couple days ago, I was walking my dog with no makeup and sweatpants on—maybe even had my pajamas on. Life has changed very dramatically,” she says. But as for what’s next, she’s excited. “I just have to sift through everything and figure out what offers are good, but I definitely would love to do more acting, more modeling, and just to be really busy—really productive.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5497235/fiji-water-girl-golden-globes-interview/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5497235/fiji-water-girl-golden-globes-interview/"},"headline":"'Life Has Changed Very Dramatically.' 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