Most people know Emily Sears from her Instagram, magazine covers or a Carl’s Jr. ad. The part of her story that got the widest attention came in 2020, when the Melbourne-born model told her followers she had just had brain surgery while awake.
This post covers who she is, how her career built up, what happened with her health, and what can honestly be said about her money.
Quick facts
| Full Name | Emily Sears |
| Date of Birth | November 10 (IMDb and Famous Birthdays list 1984; many other bios list 1985) |
| Birthplace | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Current Age | 40 (1985 birth year) or 41 (1984 birth year) |
| Height | 5′ 8″ (1.73 m) |
| Profession | Model, Social Media Personality, Brand Ambassador |
| Family Lineage | Great-Aunt Wendy Martin (1956 Australian Model of the Year) |
| Net Worth | Not publicly disclosed (online estimates vary, unverified) |
| Current Location | Los Angeles, California |
On the birth year: most profiles say 1985, but IMDb and Famous Birthdays both say 1984. The day and month, November 10, are consistent everywhere. If you go with 1985, she’s 40 now. Her height of 5’8″ is also from IMDb.
Early life
Sears grew up in Melbourne. Famous Birthdays reports that her parents were art publishers and that her great-aunt Wendy Martin was named Australian Model of the Year in 1956. I couldn’t confirm either detail in a second source, so treat them as reported rather than established.
Career
Before she was a big name on Instagram, she was a working model in Australian magazines. Profiles credit her with covers and features in titles such as GQ, FHM, Zoo Weekly and Maxim, and IMDb counts 11 magazine cover photos on her page. She appeared on the cover of Maxim Australia in February 2017.
She later moved to Los Angeles, where she built most of her commercial profile. Her best-known brand work includes Carl’s Jr. ads and a campaign for Khloe Kardashian’s Good American denim line, both mentioned in coverage of her 2020 surgery.
She also did music video work. IMDb credits her in Future’s “I Won” featuring Kanye West (2014) and Erika Jayne’s “XXPEN$IVE” (2017). In a Maxim Australia interview, she named “I Won” as her favorite of the videos she’d done.
Outside modeling, she took part in a Town Hall Los Angeles event in March 2019 where she talked about the modeling industry and feminism.
In January 2016 she and DJ Laura Lux drew wide press coverage after saying they were forwarding unsolicited explicit messages to the senders’ girlfriends and wives. It was first reported by BuzzFeed News and picked up by outlets including Pedestrian.TV. Sears said the aim was accountability, since being behind a screen gives people a false sense of anonymity.
Some sites list extra brand deals and agencies for her. I left those out because I couldn’t tie them to a reliable source.
The 2019 diagnosis and 2020 surgery
This is the part of her story that matters most, so here it is as she told it.
In April 2019, Sears had a major seizure while shopping and was taken to the hospital by ambulance. Tests found a cavernous malformation, also called a cavernoma. Her own description, repeated in press coverage, is a cluster of abnormal blood vessels in the brain that can cause seizures.
The next year was hard. She wrote about multiple seizures, side effects from medication trials, and how her work, social life and sense of identity were all put on hold.
Facing a choice between living on medication with a risk of breakthrough seizures or going ahead with a craniotomy, she picked surgery. The cavernoma sat in the front left temporal lobe, the area tied to speech, so surgeons needed her awake to talk to them during the operation. She had it at UCLA’s neurosurgery unit and posted about it in late June 2020, days after the operation. She later told TMZ the surgery was a success.
She also said she remembered being awake the whole time, and that two surgeons waved at her. Her closing message to followers was that Instagram is never the whole picture and that you don’t know what people are going through.
Several sites say the operation took five hours. I couldn’t find that figure in any primary account or major-outlet report, so I’ve left it out.
Net worth
There’s no confirmed number. Celebrity net-worth sites throw out figures anywhere from about $1 million to $5 million, and none of them show where the figure comes from. Sears doesn’t publish her earnings, so treat any exact figure as a guess.
What can be said is where a model like her typically earns: brand campaigns and ambassador deals, magazine and editorial work, music video bookings, and sponsored posts on social media. Her audience is a real asset, since she had close to 5 million Instagram followers when she shared her surgery news in 2020.
Relationship status
Sears keeps her personal life private. I couldn’t find a credible, sourced account of a current partner. When she shared her surgery news, she thanked an unnamed partner who stood by her through the ordeal. Names attached to her online usually trace back to gossip pages rather than interviews, and a rumor linking her to the late cricketer Shane Warne has no interview or major-outlet report behind it that I could find, so I’ve left it out.
FAQ
How old is Emily Sears?
Sources conflict on her birth year. IMDb and Famous Birthdays list 1984, which would make her 41. Many other bios list 1985, which would make her 40. Her birthday is November 10 either way.
What happened to Emily Sears in 2019?
In April 2019 she had a major seizure and was diagnosed with a cavernous malformation in her brain. She had surgery to remove it in June 2020.
Was she awake during her brain surgery?
Yes. The malformation was close to the brain’s speech area, so surgeons needed her awake to talk to them while they worked.
Is Emily Sears related to a famous model?
Reportedly, yes. Famous Birthdays says her great-aunt Wendy Martin was Australian Model of the Year in 1956, but I couldn’t confirm that in a second source.
What is Emily Sears’ net worth?
There’s no confirmed figure. Online estimates range from about $1 million to $5 million, and none of them are sourced.
What did Emily Sears do with explicit messages from fans?
In January 2016, she and DJ Laura Lux said they were forwarding unsolicited explicit photos to the senders’ partners. The story was first reported by BuzzFeed News and drew wide coverage. Sears said the aim was accountability.