Sahara Ray

Sahara Ray was born in Torquay, Victoria, Australia, the daughter of Australian big-wave surfer Tony Ray. Her parents met while her father was competing in the Cold Water Classic in Santa Cruz, California, and she held dual citizenship, which allowed her to be raised largely in Santa Cruz. Every winter she spent about three months on the North Shore of Oahu with her father, and she travelled the world with him as he competed in the Pipe Masters and big-wave events. She surfed and competed as a girl. Her exact date of birth has not been confirmed by her family; celebrity databases list 10 March 1993, which conflicts with the age of 34 given at her death.

After finishing high school, Ray moved to Los Angeles to pursue her interests in clothes, design and photography, and took classes at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM). Around the age of 16 she had already decided against following her father onto the professional surfing tour, choosing fashion instead.

Ray built her career as a model and social media personality, signing with One Management and growing an Instagram following that passed one million by 2016. In July 2014, while living in Long Beach, California, she launched her debut Spring/Summer 2014 swimwear collection with a lookbook featuring herself and model Mimi Elashiry. The label, Sahara Ray Swim, remained her main business for more than a decade, and she modelled its designs herself, often in Hawaii and other tropical locations. In 2015 she fronted a festival-season campaign for the handbag brand Botkier ahead of Coachella and was named one of Charlotte Russe's Fall 2015 "It Girls" alongside Olivia Culpo, Jasmine Sanders, Jennifer Humphrey and Tara Lynn. She also attended fashion events in Los Angeles, including the RTA clothing launch party in December 2016 and the Ashton Michael 10-year anniversary show in November 2023.

Ray's relationships attracted wide tabloid coverage. She was linked to Australian singer Cody Simpson in 2015, and photographs of her on holiday in Hawaii with Justin Bieber in August 2016 made headlines around the world; she never confirmed either relationship. She was also photographed with Miles Richie in 2016 and was linked to model Jordan Barrett. In 2023 and 2024 she was in a relationship with musician Mod Sun (Derek Ryan Smith), and by April 2025 she was engaged to Mike Dow. In August 2025 she announced her pregnancy, and her daughter, Snow Ray, was born on January 27, 2026. She did not publicly identify Snow's father.

Ray spoke often about the ocean as the place where she felt most free, and about her closeness to her father. In a 2016 interview with Australia's Herald Sun she said that Australia was where she wanted to end up and raise children, describing it as "more chilled and relaxed" and saying that even on shoots it was "more about quality than quantity." During her 2024 illness she stressed optimism and gratitude, telling followers that "attitude is everything" and thanking her family and doctors for helping her get stronger.

Ray said she was hit by a car driven by a drunk driver on April 8, 2024, and that the shock led to a severe illness lasting up to two weeks, followed by tingling and numbness that spread up her legs. In May 2024 she revealed on TikTok and Instagram that she had been diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare autoimmune disorder in which the immune system attacks the nerves. She said she was paralysed from the upper thighs down, was using a wheelchair and a walker, and had been depressed, but hoped to walk again. She documented her physical therapy online and later appeared to regain the ability to walk. In April 2025 she said she had been hospitalised after a mental health episode.

In April 2025, Ray posted a series of Instagram stories accusing her then fiance, Mike Dow, of physical, sexual and financial abuse, including graphic images. She deleted the posts and retracted the claims days later, saying she had posted things that "weren't true" while experiencing an episode that "warped my perception of reality," that she had been hospitalised, and that none of it had happened. She apologised to Dow and said she was working to make sure it never happened again. Earlier, her 2016 holiday photographs with Justin Bieber drew intense and often sexualised tabloid attention.

Ray was one of the first generation of models to build a career largely through Instagram, combining modelling with her own swimwear label at a time when influencer-founded brands were still new. Her images of surf, travel and swimwear shaped the look of 2010s social media, and many fans described her after her death as a defining figure of that era. Friends remembered her as kind, funny and interesting, and her openness about Guillain-Barre syndrome and motherhood brought her a new audience in her final years.

Ray appeared in brand campaigns and promotional videos for Botkier and Charlotte Russe in 2015, and her August 2016 Hawaii photographs with Justin Bieber were covered by TMZ, The Daily Beast and outlets worldwide. Surf magazine Stab profiled her in its "Please Enjoy" series, and her health updates in 2024 and pregnancy and birth announcements in 2025 and 2026 were widely reported by Australian and international media. Her death was reported by TMZ, People, E! News, USA Today, Page Six, the New York Post, Nine and Hindustan Times, among others.

Sahara Ray died on Sunday, October 18, 2026, in hospital, surrounded by her family. She was 34. Her family announced her death through TMZ on October 19, saying: "She passed away last night surrounded by family at the hospital. She was so loved." The cause of death and the location of the hospital have not been made public, and there is no confirmed link to the Guillain-Barre syndrome she described in 2024. Friends including Sabrina Zada and Becky Hearn shared tributes on Instagram. Funeral arrangements had not been made public at the time of writing. She is survived by her daughter, Snow, born in January 2026, and her father, Tony Ray.