A baby-faced Cleo Magazine Bachelor of the Year left his young family to die fighting for Islamic State on the battlefield in Syria.
Amir Millson died when he trod on a landmine as he carried a fighter on his shoulder in 2016, according to messages from the battlefield reported by the Herald Sun.
Millson appeared to be an unlikely candidate to fight and die as an Islamist jihadi, trying to establish a theocratic Caliphate.
The half-Malaysian man from Perth studied mass communications at Curtin University before going to Malaysia where he won Cleo magazine Malaysia’s Most Eligible Bachelor in 2010.
Baby-faced Cleo Magazine Bachelor of the Year Amir Millson (pictured), from Perth, died when he trod on a landmine as he carried a fighter on his shoulder in 2016
Millson appeared to be an unlikely candidate to fight and die as an Islamist jihadi, trying to establish a theocratic Caliphate
At the age of 27 he was part-time modelling and planned to become a television presenter.
Videos he posted at the time show a laid-back and well-groomed man.
During an interview with Cleo, Millson said he wanted to be prime minister and dubbed Miranda Kerr and Orlando Bloom a cool couple.
Soon after, Millson married a woman from his hometown and the couple had a son, but his views on the world began to change radically in 2014, according to the publication.
In early 2015, Millson, whose passport has been cancelled, posted an image of himself as an armed jihadi in Syria. He has not been heard from since.
‘We heard when he died,’ a friend of Millson told the Herald Sun.
‘He was carrying a fighter on his shoulder when he stepped on a landmine. That was it.’
In early 2015, Millson, whose passport has been cancelled, posted an image of himself as an armed jihadi in Syria. He has not been heard from since
Millson’s friend told the publication his conversion to radical Islam had been a gradual process
In September, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation confirmed Millson was ‘killed fighting with ISIL’.
Millson’s friend told the publication his conversion to radical Islam had been a gradual process.
‘He was handsome, very open, outgoing, extremely friendly. He was brave and courageous,’ he said.
The friend said Millson had divorced his wife before fleeing overseas.