Olga Shelest - biography, personal life

Childhood and youth

The voice of the popular presenter Olga Shelest is known to almost every person who listens to the radio, watches TV or goes to the movies. She hosts several television programs, voices popular American cartoons, and also takes part in Russian television shows. Persistence and determination helped her achieve fame and recognition.

Shelest Olga Vladimirovna was born on January 23, 1977 in the city of Naberezhnye Chelny, which is located in the northeast of Tatarstan. The girl grew up incredibly talented, which gave her parents a reason for considerable pride. Due to her excessive passion for creativity, Olga did very poorly at school. She often received unsatisfactory marks for her behavior, since she did not have an easy-going character.

Shelest loved watching cartoons and dreamed of voicing her favorite characters with her own voice. Later, when the girl was sent to study at an art school, she wanted to become a fashion designer. The future television star drew really well. Soon the girl received a high-quality art education, and her certificate showed the highest scores.

In high school, Olga decided to become a film actress, but the family did not take the girl’s initiatives seriously. At first, her parents dissuaded their beloved daughter from such an ambitious undertaking, arguing that this profession was quite unpredictable and difficult, but the girl was firmly committed to a career in cinema.

Television career

A month after her arrival in the Russian capital, Olga Shelest found herself on television. Shelest successfully passed the casting of TV presenters on the Muz-TV channel. However, after six months the girl left there. Due to the fact that, according to her, she and the program director did not get along in character. However, the talented journalist was not left without work for long. Within a few months, she passed the competitive tests and became the host of the “Musical Prospect” program on STS. And then came a position on the NTV-plus music channel. In Moscow, Olga Shelest resolved the notorious housing issue quite quickly. She lived with her aunt for about a year, but after she got a job, she started renting an apartment. In 1997, third-year student Olga was hired as a presenter for the BIZ-TV channel, which a year later successfully transformed into MTV Russia. By the way, it was at this time that the journalist met the young, promising and ambitious television producer Alexei Tishkin, who is now a director, screenwriter and producer.

In 1998, Olga Shelest began hosting the “New Athletics!” program on MTV. about extreme sports, the author of which was Alexey Tishkin. The project lasted four years. In 1999, Shelest had already achieved certain heights. On the MTV channel she was quite a sought-after and popular VJ. This year she continued her work together with Anton Komolov. The creative tandem headed the “Gimlet Rule” and “Bright Morning” programs. In 2002, Olga Shelest, along with the entire team of VJs, such as Vasily Strelnikov, Yana Churikova, Anton Komolov, Tanya Gevorkyan and Ivan Urgant, left MTV due to a change in management. After this, the girl began broadcasting on NTV “Morning”.

The creative tandem of Shelest and Komolov enjoyed success with television viewers, which gave rise to inviting both of them to the Zvezda TV channel in 2007. There they hosted the entertaining talk show “Starry Evening with Anton Komolov and Olga Shelest.”

In 2008, Shelest was invited to become a participant in the TV show “Circus with the Stars” from Channel One. It was especially difficult for her, as a convinced vegetarian, to train animals. After the victory, Shelest became a supporter of vegetarianism and an ardent opponent of any exploitation of animals, including in the circus. In the future, programs with Olga’s participation become more and more popular.

One of the large-scale projects in which Shelest took part as a host is the popular talk show “Girls,” first shown on television in 2010.

It is also worth noting that Olga Shelest was a regular commentator, a kind of symbol of Russia at the Eurovision music competition. Since 2008, together with the famous sports commentator Dmitry Guberniev, she broadcast for several years.

Shelest and Urgant

Olga remains one of the most positive people in Russian show business today. She still works well together with Ivan Urgant, who at the dawn of the 2000s also started his television career on MTV. Moreover, it was Shelest and Komolov who then defended his candidacy at the casting.

Urgant and Shelest in "Bright Morning"

Archive footage MTV Russia / YouTube

RIA Novosti / Evgeniy Biyatov

Olga Shelest now

In October 2020, Olga Shelest became a member of the jury of the TV show “Amazing People” on the Russia-1 channel, where in the new program the participants demonstrate their talents and unique abilities.

Thousands of people responded to participate in the large-scale project. The casting was held for more than three months in 40 cities of Russia, CIS countries and neighboring countries. The selection committee had to work hard to find people with phenomenal abilities.

Olga recently became the host of the new super-project “Everybody Dance!” The new TV show features various groups from all over Russia, who are ready to surprise the audience on stage and demonstrate their professionalism to the audience. Every week, teams of professional dancers compete to become the best dance group in the country. The creators of the project assure that in the episodes of the show they are ready to surprise with new productions, and the judges will appreciate the bright and unexpected transformations of the participants.

Olga still continues to voice over popular animated films. In particular, in 2020, she voiced one of the characters in the American cartoon “Ice Age 5: Collision is inevitable.” Previously, one could already hear the voice of the Russian TV presenter in other episodes of the famous animated film.

Despite her busy schedule and large-scale creative plans for 2017, Olga tries to devote all her time to her children.

Successful projects of Olga Shelest

Together with her morning show partner Anton Komolov, Olga was awarded the Radiomania Prize for her outstanding broadcasting style. The couple also hosted the Muz-TV awards ceremony in 2009. For hosting “Beautiful Morning”, Olga was nominated for the “TEFI” award.

The “Crocodile” project, a game show on Muz-TV, which she co-hosted with Timur Rodriguez, was successful. In addition, Olga took part in the most significant events in the world of television. So, in 2012, she took part in the broadcast of the Olympic flame, which took place in the UK, and also repeatedly acted as a Russian commentator for Eurovision.

Olga Shelest successfully worked in tandem with Vladimir Yaglych and Dmitry Dibrov on the Rossiya-1 and TVC channels. As an independent presenter, she worked on the Disney, Mom and Carousel channels. And in the show “Amazing People” on “Russia-1” Shelest was invited as a member of the jury.

Personal life

Alexey Tishkin was one of the directors of MTV; he had been eyeing the charming presenter for a long time, but she didn’t notice him at all. Once he was tasked with filming a promotional video with the participation of Olga Shelest. According to the script, she was supposed to walk around the city and eat colorful ice cream. The autumn weather was not at all conducive to such an activity: Olga was chattering her teeth from the cold, but did not complain, smiled at the camera and courageously endured all the inconveniences. After filming, he warmed her up with hot tea, covered her with a blanket and warmed her hands in his palms. And then he asked the girl out on a date.

Olga came with a new hairstyle and... in tears. It turns out that the MTV stylist demanded that she cut her hair short. How sorry she was to part with her long hair! Throughout the date, Shelest sobbed on Alexei’s shoulder, and he consoled her and assured her that she was the most beautiful, and her haircut suited her very well. From that day on they never parted. At first we talked on the phone for hours, met every evening, and then decided: we need to live together.

“There were no crises in our relationships in our biography,” says Olga after seventeen years of personal life together. “We are very lucky to have each other.” While all their friends and acquaintances came together, diverged, sorted things out and looked for new partners, they were together and enjoying every day.

They are simply an ideal couple: Olga Shelest, emotional, keen, prone to adventure, and Alexey Tishkin - calm, balanced, but always ready for adventure. By the way, there were plenty of adventures in their personal lives. They traveled, tried themselves in extreme sports, had fun all night long, and worked during the day - each built their own career, and both achieved considerable success.

During this time, they were pretty tired of the questions “when will you finally get married” and “when will you have children.” But they did not want to change anything to please the environment, even close people. As for the children, they always knew that they would become parents when the time came. The time came fifteen years after we met - a daughter was born, who was given the beautiful and unusual name Muse.

And two years later, Olga Shelest and Alexey Tishkin gave her a sister, Iris. Now they are a happy family of four people and one dog, they live in a newly built country house and still love adventure.

Shortly before the birth of their second daughter, the young parents, Shelest and Tishkin, had an important change in their personal life: they got married after at least two dozen marriage proposals from Alexei. And it’s not that Olga didn’t agree before - she always said “yes”, she just never had enough time for the wedding. But now they are officially husband and wife and plan to spend the rest of their lives in this status.

Olga Shelest: you need to learn to lose

— Olga, when you say the name of your new program “Best Friends” (Disney Channel), the first association is a line from the song “Girls’ best friends are diamonds.” And you?

— I have one association - with the TV series of all times “Friends”. I have my own Monica and my own Chandler in my life. There was everything between us: quarrels, reconciliation, and love. There are friends from college with whom we have been friends for more than 20 years. There are those who joined later. In adulthood, you find like-minded people faster, because you can quickly read whether this person is yours or not. Our Sunday show features families who have been friends for many years competing. And they must support each other, but there always comes a turning point when the struggle for victory begins. As a presenter, I have to support both one side and the other. After the program, people should remain friends! Both children and adults must accept loss adequately. It's always interesting to see how participants embrace failure. Children get offended and sometimes cry. Not all, but it happens. You need to learn to lose. And, of course, the heart rejoices when friends accept the victory of friends as their own.

As for the question about diamonds, I have them, but I'm not a fan. Costume jewelry is much more creative: incredible things can be made from glass, plastic, and crystals. I have a lot of this stuff.

Disney Channel Press Service

— There are quite a lot of competitions in the show, where parents and children must show good physical shape. A love of sports is usually instilled in childhood. Did you have a sports family?

“My parents were involved in fitness, as they call it now. I still remember how my dad put on several windbreakers and went outside to jump rope. Then he explained that he needed to sweat and get some cardio exercise. Dad worked out his abs at home, doing pull-ups and push-ups. Mom went skiing with us in winter. We loved hiking, traveling and, in principle, were accustomed to physical activity. I went to a cool kindergarten with a swimming pool, and then at school I was selected for the sports swimming section. Now I do yoga, some time ago I became interested in running and try to run a total of 10 km a week.

— We met two years ago, and then you tried to lose weight after your second birth. Are you happy with your form today?

“I regained my pre-pregnancy weight, fit into all my clothes and am happy with my figure. I don’t kill myself in the gym and I don’t strictly limit myself in nutrition. Where would we be without sweets? I try, of course, to monitor my diet, but without going overboard. The main thing is to like yourself, everything else is not important.

Disney Channel Press Service

— What makes daughters Muse and Iris happy? It’s impossible to look at girls without being moved on your Instagram...

- Thank you. Children grow, develop, change - it is very interesting to watch them! The girls go swimming and go to the ballet studio, which they absolutely love. They have been snowboarding with us since they were one and a half years old. In general, they have a fun, carefree childhood. The main thing is for parents to keep up, motivate and be a good example.

View this post on Instagram
Posted by Shelest Olga (@olgashelest) May 16, 2020 at 6:14 PDT

— Are your daughters different in character?

- Absolutely! We joke that if Iris had been born first, we would never have decided to have a second child. The Elder Muse is calm, analyzing everything, and at the same time very creative, she can spend hours drawing, sculpting, and collecting bracelets. A miracle, not a child! It's time to give birth to a second one, you think. And then bam, a completely different person is born! Iris is wildly stubborn, she climbs ahead everywhere, she needs to try everything - how deep is the puddle, how tall is the tree! An eye and an eye behind her.

— You spent the last two weeks in New York. Were you working or relaxing?

— My husband is now working in New York, and my children and I visited him. They made a good offer to Alexey, and we decided that this would be a wonderful experience for all of us. Now we live in two cities: first we come to him, then he comes to us. And the children really like to travel; they already have friends both there and here. Girls easily switch from Russian to English, they are interested in finding themselves in new cities. Everyone is interested in how we cope with a ten-hour flight, but we easily overcome this distance. First we read, do puzzles, origami, then lunch. Then comes their favorite part of the flight: cartoons! On the “ground” we limit the time we spend watching TV, but here, so that they don’t destroy the plane, we have to give in. And away we go: one, two, three cartoons in a row, until we fall asleep or start to land.

View this post on Instagram
Posted by Shelest Olga (@olgashelest) May 8, 2020 at 8:43 PDT

— Do you entertain the idea of moving the whole family to America?

- We don't think about it. I don't see any difference at all where to live. Nowadays there is no concept of emigration, you do not part with your homeland forever, there is no need to change citizenship and you can visit your relatives at any time. You are where you can realize yourself. And now the world is such that you can do what you love anywhere in the world. I work in Moscow, my husband in New York. So far we like everything. Who knows what will happen tomorrow? We don't make long-term plans.

— Where do you prefer to go shopping? I remember you used to be an inveterate shopaholic...

- Not anymore! I can spend like crazy, but I’m definitely not a shopaholic who walks into a store and can’t leave without buying something. With the advent of social networks, many Russian designers have appeared who send clothes and ask to advertise them on social networks. I don’t feel sorry, I shoot a lot, and the clothes for the shot need to be updated often, and Russian manufacturers need advertising for development. But I don’t keep much for myself; I often give it to friends or donate it to charity.

I remember when the first big money appeared, the first thing I did was go to Chanel to buy a bag. Now I have about ten of them and I don’t wear them anywhere. With the advent of children, priorities change. The husband sighs with relief. Previously, when you come home with a bunch of boxes, he gasps: “You have such sandals!” “Like the same! There’s a different strap here!” — I answered indignantly. Now I’m calm about things, there shouldn’t be too many of them.

View this post on Instagram
Posted by Shelest Olga (@olgashelest)Mar 1, 2020 at 6:09 PST

Add our news to your favorite sources

How has motherhood changed the owner of the most recognizable voice in Russia?

So, in November 2013, on the 1st, in a New York hospital, a young couple gave birth to a girl, she was given the name Muse. And the youngest daughter, Iris, was born in 2020 on August 19. Such an unusual name is translated from Greek as rainbow.

Throughout her adult life, Olga has had a great passion for unusual names. She always felt irritated that her name was so common. Being pregnant with her daughters, Olga felt the desire to call them the rarest names. A. Shelest has a reputation as a very advanced mother.

Winter 2020 a young mother put her youngest daughter Iris on a snowboard. Taking to Instagram, the happy mom shared a photo of two small boards for her little girls. Daughter Muse started snowboarding when she was only 1 year and 2 months old.

In 2020 the eldest daughter Muse starred in an advertisement for H&M clothing. The young model presented a new collection of children's clothing for school.

Olga says that she is a very calm mother. The celebrity gave birth to girls after 30 years. She believes that at this age there is no point in panicking. Those who give birth at 20 should worry. Even if a woman has her first child at 30, she is still more “savvy” in life issues than a young mother of 20 years old.

It was very important for Olga to become a mother when she herself wanted it. You should not listen to the opinion of society in such matters. If you want to give birth at 30 or later, why not do it. After all, this is not criminally punishable.

The TV presenter is often asked questions about the non-standard names of her daughters. The celebrity says that it is more important to raise a child correctly than to pay attention to his unusual name. Grandparents calmly accepted the unconventional names of girls.

Olga Shelest’s daughters do not feel any discomfort about the fact that their name is different from most of the other children with whom they communicate.

Olga really likes the names of her children. She has repeatedly admitted in interviews that she is simply crazy about such combinations as Leopold Ivanovich and others. She associates them with the names of classics of Russian literature and culture. Moreover, such names used to be absolutely normal, since many Russian women married Frenchmen and vice versa.

Despite the fact that Olga is not superstitious, she preferred not to talk about her pregnancies.

OOO "KTV-LUCH" - Official website

“My child is not a sunbed”: the story of Olga Shelest, mother of a special baby

A frank story about the struggle for the life of a son and hundreds of orphans.
Mom's hands work miracles, even when it seems there is no hope. Photo: Roman Danilkin

Sleep only an hour a day. Powerlessness from fatigue and inability to help your child. From the very birth of Olga's youngest son, Shelest was accompanied by unbearable muscle pain. Samara doctors were never able to diagnose the boy. The verdict of the luminaries of Israeli medicine came as a shock to the whole family. The baby turned out to have Canavan syndrome. The disease is incurable. Children with this diagnosis live for about three years. Now Yura is already five. Thanks to her son, Olga discovered a new world for herself. She helps orphans and families with palliative children.

How Olga discovered a new world for herself and why she considers her child a gift from fate, watch in our video story.

Video: Alexey Noginsky

“I was offered to give up my son”

Sleepless days and nights and the incessant crying of the child. Almost every young mother experienced this period. For police officer, blogger and journalist Olga Shelest, the torture lasted for many months. When asked what happened to her newborn son, Samara doctors shrugged their shoulders. One of the doctors even suggested that the mother give up Yura.

1.5 month old Yura in his grandfather's arms. Photo: Olga Shelest archive

— Usually in the medical records of any such child they write: organic damage to the central nervous system, multiple developmental defects, atonic syndrome, paresis, cerebral palsy. We have collected everything that can be collected to explain this condition. But there was no diagnosis,” recalls Olga Shelest. “The doctors didn’t even want to delve into the problem. They were simply sent from one to another. Most often they went to see specialists for money, since they had to wait months for an appointment under compulsory medical insurance.

No matter how difficult it was, Olga continued to fight for her son. Photo: Olga Shelest archive

The mother could not hear the baby’s cry around the clock. But even private consultations were of no use:

- They advised you and said that there is nothing on our line. Where to go next? You sit, read the Internet, look for information. You go further to the doctor, he says: “Get tested.” The most expensive examination we had was endocrinological. A total of 50 thousand were spent on hormone tests. It is clear that money was not a question then. The main thing was to understand what was wrong with the child. And, of course, deep down, reading many different messages from mothers of sick children, I internally understood that, probably, something very terrible was happening to my child.

In an attempt to get to the bottom of her son’s diagnosis, Olga spent dozens of sleepless nights at her laptop. Photo: Roman Danilkin

“The diagnosis was told to me in Hebrew”

After seven months of unsuccessful attempts to find out what was wrong with the baby, the family borrowed money from all their relatives and friends and went for examination to an Israeli clinic. There, specialists explained to Yura’s mother and grandmother that the boy had severe muscle pain that gave him no rest. Doctors made the diagnosis after two days of the family’s stay in the Holy Land. Just one MRI each.

“And there we were not only diagnosed with leukodystrophy.” She has a lot of subspecies. We were also specifically diagnosed as having Canavan disease. In the anamnesis, they wrote a phrase that speaks of their attitude in principle towards patients: “The mother and grandmother devoted themselves completely to the child.” From a purely human perspective, it was important for me that someone saw that my whole life and the life of my family revolves around my son,” Olga explains.

Canavan's disease is not uncommon in Israel. Their doctors have studied this syndrome well. This is a progressive degenerative disease associated with the decomposition of the white matter of the brain, which is responsible for the production of myelin (a unique substance that conducts electrical impulses along nerve fibers. - Note 63.RU

). Such children cannot walk, talk, control their hands, or hold their heads. They do not have a clear connection between the brain and the eyes, that is, they do not understand what they see. Over time, their basic life reflexes die off: sucking, swallowing, breathing. But babies have good hearing and smell.

Little Yura has a hard time controlling his hands. Photo: Roman Danilkin

— The diagnosis was announced to us by the chief neurologist of Israel. He speaks Hebrew, and the translator translates it into Russian for us. I look carefully at the doctor and don’t yet understand what he is saying. But I hear how his voice trembled, and tears appeared in his eyes,” Olga shares. “And then they translate it to us in exactly the same way: “Unfortunately, Canavan’s disease is incurable. The lifespan of such children is up to three years. This means that your child will not develop, he will not acquire any new skills, and the child’s condition will only worsen.” And you don’t know what you feel: relief that your child has an accurate diagnosis, or shock that things will never get better in life.

Yura was given medications that numbed the severe muscle pain. The boy stopped crying and smiled for the first time at 9 months.

Mother and son understand each other without words. Photo: Roman Danilkin

“Of course, for a very long time I asked myself the question: “Why?” I went through my whole life in 40 years. And I didn’t find what it could be for. And then this question transformed into another: “For what?” For me there have never been problems that cannot be solved. The main thing is to know where to move. And then they tell me: “You can’t do anything. No rehabilitation, bone marrow transplants, experimental treatments... Nothing will help.” You just need to take it and love it. But this question has never arisen for me. I loved Yurik, even when all these months I slept an hour a day.

“My child is a gift from fate”

Olga admits that Yura completely changed her life and social circle. Some friends became exes because they couldn't bear to see the special child. Those closest to her remained with her: grandmother, grandfather, sister, Olga’s eldest son, 17-year-old Timur, and a nanny. But completely different people appeared, the social circle completely changed.

— I perceive my child as a gift. He's a baby forever. This is also happiness for me. I really love small children, but it’s more difficult for me with older ones. And maybe life gave me such a gift too. She said: “Here, love him.” I can kiss him all the time without fear of spoiling him. This is exactly what he lives for,” Olga smiles.

Yura recognizes the people closest to him by smells and voices. He knows that the nanny comes to them every morning, and is very happy about her.

Most of all, Yurik loves to listen to children's songs on toy phones. Photo: Roman Danilkin

“I’ve heard the professional community call these children “beds” and “vegetables.” The lounger is on the beach, for me it’s my son, my child. Alive and understanding. Everything he needs,” Shelest emphasizes. “I think he can do a lot.” Feels the mood of loved ones. Knows how and with whom to behave. He openly rides on the nanny. With an older brother - an ideal baby. They have incredible love with their grandfather. Grandpa listens to all the toy phones with him for three hours. They sing songs together. He also has favorites!

The people dearest to Olga: sons Yura and Timur. Photo: Olga Shelest archive

“Orphans very quickly realize that no one will take them in their arms”

Olga admits that she is glad that Yura came into her life. The special child became for her a kind of teacher and guide to the new world:

“I am very grateful to life that he came to me.” My life goals have completely changed. I have been involved in drug addiction prevention before (Shelest headed the press service of the drug police for 13 years. - Note 63.RU

), all my life I somehow tried to help orphans socialize, introduce them to something new and interesting, and protect them from drugs and alcohol. But when I had Yurik, I realized that this was not enough.

In March 2015, Shelest came to the Samara orphanage to learn from her experience of caring for special children. Olga could no longer leave there.

— They told me a lot of things there. I heard what problems they had, that they didn’t have enough diapers for their children or special food. All this is supplied to government agencies, but according to norms and standards. In practice, one child eats more, another eats less,” says Shelest. “For a year, I helped them organize holidays, brought volunteer bikers, and collected money from the drug police. We bought diapers and wet wipes for the children. That is, those consumables without which special children cannot exist.

Before the New Year 2020, Olga arrived at the baby’s home with the Snow Maiden and gifts. After the matinee, volunteers went to the wards of the children who were unable to attend the celebration. There Shelest first saw 5-month-old Kirill. The boy lay quietly in his crib and looked at one point.

In the baby's house, Kiryusha lay quietly in his crib. Photo: Olga Shelest archive

“This is the normal state of children in the system. When people don't talk to you, what do you do? You switch off, no one will come anyway, no one will take you in your arms, orphans understand this very quickly,” explains Shelest. “Kiryusha was different from all the other kids. Snegurka and I bent over the bed. I say: “Who is this handsome guy?” And he raises his gray eyes at us, and his face lights up with a toothless smile from ear to ear.

Kirill won over the volunteers and future parents with his smile. Photo: Olga Shelest archive

It turned out that the boy had serious diagnoses. After suffering several sleepless nights, Olga posted her first post about Kiryusha on social networks. Then she had only 15 subscribers on her page.

At first, Olga devoted all her free time to finding mothers and fathers for abandoned children. Now it has turned into a life's work. Photo: Roman Danilkin

A month later, Shelest brought the best neurologist in the region with her to the baby’s home. It turned out that the boy was not hopeless; he still had sensitivity in his legs.

“But if he always lies down, he won’t walk.” And Kiryusha was already 6-7 months old, he should have been sitting and starting to crawl. Unfortunately, state institutions do not have the strength and means to deal with such children systematically,” Olga states.

Then the police lieutenant colonel, who had already become deputy head of the press service of the regional headquarters, together with three other like-minded women, created the Kiryusha group on the social network. And after three months of posts about the baby’s life, he was taken into the family. The boy was discharged as if from a maternity hospital. Volunteers collected a dowry for him for the first time, presented his parents with a bouquet and launched a pacifier of balloons into the sky.

Father and grandmother came to pick up Kiryusha from the baby’s home. Photo: Olga Shelest archive

— Of course, the orphanage was hit. The workers said that in several decades of their work, this was the first time such a seriously ill child had been taken into a family. And they showed me Vanechka. After six months, the boy with cerebral palsy was to be transferred to a boarding house for disabled children. The child would no longer have a chance to get out of there,” says Olga.

“People think I pull children out of my sleeve”

Once again, posts on social networks helped. The baby left the orphanage with his adoptive mother. Over the past three years, Shelest and volunteers have found families for hundreds of children with serious and even incurable diagnoses. In the most hopeless cases, Olga asks Yura to help. She believes that her son has a special connection with higher powers.

Surrounded by warmth and care, Kirill flourished in the family. Photo: Olga Shelest archive

“There are, of course, people who write: “We are a young childless family, we are looking for a child with white skin, blue eyes, and preferably he is zero days old.” It feels like I'm pulling these kids out of my sleeve. I answer that I don’t deal with healthy children. It's their turn. Everyone wants a healthy, beautiful baby from a professor and a ballerina. I look for families only for special children or teenagers who are like invisible people - they seem to be there, but they don’t seem to be. And only when you write in detail about the baby’s character, take original photos, and even better, a video, do you get a complete picture that, despite the diagnosis, here he is, an ordinary child! Sometimes it’s scary that a family won’t be found, but sometimes six months or a year passes, and still the children go to their mothers and fathers. And I am immensely grateful to these people, who are ready to accept and love such children, and who are always in touch with them,” Olga admits.

Mothers come to Samara from all over the country. Now the babies from the orphanage live in Belgorod, Moscow, Voronezh, Izhevsk, Penza, Moscow, Crimea and even Grozny. And the group, which was once founded by Olga and three other Samara girls - Ekaterina, Natalya and Tatyana, already has almost 2.5 thousand subscribers.

The first letters of the founders' names formed the word "raccoon". The fluffy animal has become the logo of the group “Raccoons: Looking for Mothers for Abandoned Babies!”, which is known throughout Russia.

The very name of Olga Shelest has long become a brand in Samara. Therefore, after she left the authorities, she was offered to head the EVITA charity foundation:

— Since February of this year I have been the executive director.
Our main activity is the development of palliative care in the Samara region, assistance to such families and, of course, finding families for orphans. Our main focus is not on fundraising, but on helping families with palliative children. Anyone can buy diapers or food and donate them to the fund or directly to families. Source: 63.ru
21:00, April 10, 2020, Wednesday / 7058 / SOCIETY PARTNER NEWS

Olga Shelest and plastic surgery

At the end of March 2020, information appeared on the Internet that Olga Shelest was planning to undergo plastic surgery. Despite the fact that the woman is only 40 years old, she has already thought about surgical intervention on her appearance.

For the first time Olga spoke about plastic surgery after her first birth. The woman admitted that she sees nothing wrong with the desire of other girls to correct flaws in their appearance. Olga says that she does not plan to change anything radically. Most likely, if she decides to do something, it will be a rejuvenating procedure.

Olga Shelest did not undergo plastic surgery. However, the celebrity herself does not exclude the possibility of going under the surgeon’s knife in the future. Thanks to modern technologies, according to Olga, everything is done with small punctures. It only takes a couple of days of rehabilitation to get back to work and to yourself. This is nothing compared to the newly emerged feeling of attractiveness.

Interesting Facts

In 2010, a new type of microorganism was named after Olga Shelest: a protozoan from the class of sunflowers - Acanthocystis olgashelestae.
Ivan Urgant, by his own admission, owes his appearance on television to Olga Shelest and Anton Komolov. It was Shelest and Komolov who in 2001 defended Urgant’s candidacy at the casting of presenters on the MTV channel, although the producers wanted to refuse to hire the young St. Petersburger.
In 2002, Olga became a vegetarian, and after participating in the Circus on First project in 2008, she became a vegan and opposed to any exploitation of animals. In 2014, she returned to vegetarianism after the birth of her daughter.
In February 2013, she recorded a video message for the “Be Stronger” project, aimed against homophobia.
Olga Shelest is the person who puts her personal life in the forefront. Children and husband are “everything” for her biography. Olga is sure that with them she can be happy in 10 years.
Olga Shelest's philosophy is quite simple. For everything to work out for you, you need to be happy. If a person fails to find his happiness, he will have a very hard time in life.
Another interesting fact from Olga’s life. A woman opposes the exploitation of animals. Her worldview changed dramatically after 2008, when she learned “from the inside” what a circus is. It turned out that a circus show is beautiful only from the viewer’s perspective. Only the artist knows in what conditions the animals are kept, and how sometimes it is not easy for them to go out into the arena.
Initially, Olga was presented to the public as an eccentric tomboy. Now Olga is a real lady. The TV presenter admits that if it weren’t for the children, she would like to work at the London Fashion Institute and create her own brands. Olga is content to just watch the latest works of her favorite designers. The woman is impressed by the collections of Denis Simachek, Igor Chapurin, Alexander McQueen and others.
He is interested in snowboarding and surfing, loves skateboarding, rollerblading, skating and mountain biking.
An ardent fan of the CSKA football club (Moscow).
“Girl in the style of Incredible Me 2006”, “Smile of the Year 2007” and “Diva of the Year 2011” according to Glamor magazine.
She prefers huge SUVs and is a fan of the Land Rover brand.
In 2020 I decided to creatively dye my hair according to the latest fashion and chose the lilac color of my strands. Her constant master, whose name is Giampaolo, helped Rustle transform.
She took part in the dubbing of a charity cartoon.
In the TV show “The Invisible Man,” Shelest was predicted to have a third child.