EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS: She's The Original Snooki! See Real Housewife of Atlanta Phaedra Parks -- Before She Was Famous!
March 14 2011, Published 9:10 a.m. ET
Before Phaedra Parks made herself a household name as a reality star on The Real Housewives of Atlanta she was a high school cheerleader, a horse lover -- and the original Snooki! And Breaking Celebrity News has the exclusive photos of Phaedra in her younger years .
Phaedra always had a love for riding horses, and was an award-winning equestrian at 17-years-old -- pictured here with her horse, Squiggy.
“I had been riding since I was 7 years old,” she told Breaking Celebrity News exclusively, pictured with her ribbon. “I did dressage and entry-level jumping and I always placed in the top 3. Then I rode competitively in college.”
PHOTO: Kim Zolciak Strips Down For A Cause
At 14, she also had a knack for sports and cheered for Clarke Central High School in her hometown of Athens, Georgia.
“I always loved to cheer,” she said. “I think it’s definitely a sport.”
Phaedra is known on the popular Bravo reality show for her stand-out fashion sense, complete with hats, gloves and old fashioned southern belle charm. And she showed off that same flair for fashion in her teenage years.
Move over Jersey Shore: Phaedra says she had the first Snooki-style poof!
“I’m the original Snooki!” she exclaimed with a laugh. “You tease it at the top, pump it up and just let it hang. You need lots of volume,” she said of her signature hairstyle at 19-years-old while attending Wesleyan University.