Demi-Leigh Tebow on Her New Children’s Book and Greatest Wish for Her and Tim’s Baby Girl (EXCLUSIVE)
The beauty queen shares her hopes for her baby, her faith journey and why she wrote ‘Princess Paris’
Author, speaker, Miss Universe 2017 and “very soon-to-be” mom Demi Tebow opens up to Woman’s World about her new children’s book, Princess Paris Finds Her Purpose, and the inspiration behind it. In this exclusive interview, the beauty queen discusses the creative process of writing a children’s book and the personal experiences that shaped her vision.
From her journey toward motherhood to her reflections on faith, identity and self-love, Demi shares valuable insights for women navigating life’s challenges and offers a glimpse into her personal life—from her relationship with husband, former NFL quarterback and ESPN analyst Tim Tebow, to her favorite stress-relief practices and what makes her laugh.
Here, an intimate Q&A with Demi about how her faith keeps her strong and why she believes in the message behind her new children’s book, Princess Paris Finds Her Purpose—on sale April 1, 2025.
Woman’s World: What inspired your new children’s book?
Demi Tebow: This has been such a labor of love. You think writing a kid’s book that’s like 500-800 words will be a lot easier than writing a 70,000-word book, which I did previously, but it’s just been such a fun process working with the illustrator and getting the copy to match the illustrations perfectly.
I’ve been so diligent and detail-oriented in making sure that my home country, South Africa, is represented well. Paris [the dog and star of the book] does go on a South African safari, so all those little things we’re just so excited to work on. But I wrote a book called A Crown that Lasts: You Are Not Your Label. It launched last year and it was all about chasing things in this life that truly have the opportunity to have an everlasting impact and not tying our purpose, our identity, our worth, to things that are temporary. I realized when I tried to explain that concept to my nieces, my goddaughter, that it was a pretty big topic to try and explain to 4 to 8-year-olds, and that’s really what Princess Paris was inspired by.
It was inspired by my real-life Dalmatian, who has had challenges of her own that she’s had to overcome. She was born hearing-impaired and her hearing developed as she got a little bit older. But she is our main character in the book, and my hope and my heart for this book is really for it to be a conversation starter—specifically between moms and daughters—about how we can we look towards finding not just that next trophy or title that will give us worth, but to really look for our God-given worth and value.
WW: We all struggle with finding purpose, confidence and self-love. What advice would you give to women who need to be reminded of their worth?
DT: Whether starting puberty or being pregnant for the first time, like I am, or going through menopause, our bodies constantly go through change.
A big part of what inspired my book, A Crown that Lasts, was me going through a big change in my career when something that I’d worked so hard for came to an end. When that role changed, when I had to give that crown as Ms. Universe back and I walked off that stage feeling like that thing that gave me worth, value and purpose was no longer there, I really had to sit and understand who I truly am without just that accolade, without just that degree, without just that purpose that I found in something that was temporary.
Maybe you’re an empty nester for the first time and that purpose that you had for the last 18 years is driving themselves to college and packing their own lunchbox. Maybe you’re facing that question of: “What now? Where to next? Who am I without this specific purpose?” Something that was encouraging to me was to look towards things that are bigger than myself, that are not temporary and that have the opportunity to have an everlasting impact because I think there are ways where we can truly discover our true life’s purpose.
WW: Can you share with us about a difficult moment that you have gone through—whether that be grief, illness, heartbreak or anxiety?
DT: I’ve definitely faced some hard moments. I had a little sister that was born with severe special needs. Her name was Franje, and we were about 10 years apart. Franje‘s life came with so many questions. She was born without a cerebellum, which left her severely disabled.
Franje ended up passing away when she was 13 years old in 2019. After she passed, I found myself just having so many “Why” questions, and just trying to figure out why God allowed this. Why did this happen to my sister? What was the plan behind this? What was the purpose with Franje‘s life?
I realized that I was asking the wrong question all along, that I was asking “Why,” but instead, I should have been asking God where he was in this and how he would use it. I realized once I changed that mindset and changed that simple question of “Why” to “Where,” instead of questioning, I was now seeking—seeking understanding far beyond just my own capabilities and capacity. And so I’d maybe just encourage anyone to seek the purpose in those moments.
WW: You and Tim have such an incredible love story and now are having your first baby girl. What advice would you give her to carry with her through her life?
DT: It’s so crazy to even think that we’ll be parents very soon and it’s just been the greatest blessing. It’s been such a fun journey so far. Something that I really learned from Tim is how to truly seek wise counsel. So I know that’s something that we’ll be doing a lot going forward.
But becoming a mom and welcoming a baby girl into this world, I hope that she will always know how loved she is by Tim and by myself, and how much we will value and cherish and protect her as much as we are capable of.
But more importantly, I hope that she will be able to seek out the purpose that God has for her, that he has destined for her the way that he has perfectly created her for a specific purpose.
WW: What do you wish you could say to your younger self?
DT: So long I thought that my purpose in life had to be something extravagant, something far reaching, something big, something bold for it to have impact for it to matter. That’s one of the biggest mistakes I’ve made, because instead of allowing me to try new things, it actually paralyzed me in a way and led me to just doing nothing in a lot of instances.
But I know that God has created each and every one of us so uniquely and that he can use us when we are willing to say, “Here I am, use me with what I’ve got right here where I’m planted for your glory!”
WW: How does faith keep you and Tim grounded?
DT: Our faith is the foundation of our marriage. It’s the biggest part of who I am. It shaped me into who I am today. My parents were divorced from a young age, but I pretty much grew up in two households that were Christian, and I got to go to church and I got to grow up in a community of people that surrounded me.
And I think faith is the biggest thing that has been really helpful throughout challenging times, and that I’ve been surrounded with a community of people that could point me back to the truth.
I think the enemy within is so good at creating doubt. Not even just telling lies, but making us ask, Am I good enough? Do I really deserve this?
But having that community of people around me that know the truth of who God created us to be, the way that he loves us, and the way that we get to see a reflection of ourselves through who God is, it’s something that I’ve really cherished.
WW: What are three actionable ways you relieve stress?
DT: We all know there’s the “quick shower” and then there’s the proper self-care day!
Taking one day in the week to just do the whole full self-care routine from washing your hair to putting on a hair mask to putting on a little at-home facial or just a sheet mask—that’s one of my favorite things.
I also love being outdoors, just getting a little bit of pure sunshine. We live in Florida, so we are very lucky to get a lot of good sunshine out here, especially at this time of the year. So getting just that 10 minutes of sunshine, walking outside, getting fresh air—I really try to do that every day. Just take my dogs for a walk, even if it’s just down the driveway and back.
Working out has also always been a fun stress reliever for me. I love all kinds of sports. My husband and I have picked up playing golf together, and I highly recommend it because my performance does not impact his performance. On the pickleball court, that’s not quite the case. If I miss it, that impacts his performance. But pickleball has also been such a fun sport to pick up!
Conversation
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