She's been a South American celebrity since the age of four and now Brazil's favorite sweetheart, 20-year-old surf model and actress Elissa Sursara has doubled the local love by revealing she's a virgin - on purpose! The curvaceous, one time surf wear model has lived on the pages of Brazilian magazines and catalogues.

She dropped the personal bombshell to South American magazine Polios, saying that not only has she not been dating the slurry of famous men that local gossip has claimed (including Swedish footballer Fredrik Ljungberg and Australian footballer Craig Wing), but that she can actually have difficultly finding a boyfriend because of her "no sex before marriage" rule.

The commercial model-turned-actress, who recently split with her long-time love (an Australian Armani model) laughs, "We will probably be back together in a week. We break up a lot because of the distance between us when we are doing different things, you know? Not because we don't sleep together. We're deeper than that. But it's something my father is relieved about." She claims the decision was entirely hers to make and is not a concept enforced by her family. It is something encouraged by her religion.

"I have been raised Roman Catholic and while my Grandparents are very religious, my parents were not as dedicated. Because of the freedom they provided me with, to learn and decide for myself, I have been able to settle in to my own personal relationship with God - and spirituality - and saving myself for my husband is, at least to me, something that I want to do, not only because I think it's beautiful, but also because I think it's right," she says.

For male fans of the curvaceous beauty, the news has come as a quite a shock. Says Polios editor Maswela Purto, "when Adriana Lima revealed she will also be a virgin until marriage her male fan base was dumbstruck, a little disbelieving. Both Adriana and Elissa are beautiful girls, both have very womanly figures and have the ability to be very sexy. It was perhaps assumed that they were sexually active. Not the case."

Supermodel Gisele Bundchen says she supports both Lima and Sursara's personal beliefs, but that she did not have the same desire. Stirring controversy in 2005 when she generalized chastity and accused the Vatican of being irresponsible, Bundchen revealed to the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper, "Today no one is a virgin when they get married ... show me someone who's a virgin."

Bundchen is not the first to second guess the choice. When news of Lima's virginity hit the Internet, journalists everywhere doubted her sincerity, suggesting the statement was an easy way of gaining support for her career. For Sursara, the personal moral is very real.

"I worry sometimes what people may think about it, what they might think of me because of it. I am not a prude, I'm not ashamed of myself, my body or of sex... I think it's natural and healthy to be sexual and be affectionate. I think there is more to a relationship than sleeping together but realize that making love is a very big part of any serious and committed relationship - but I am not physically having sex until I am married."

For now, for 20-year-old Sursara, the debate "just rages on behind me." The blue-eyed brunette says, "People will always have an opinion about you and what you believe. I respect other people's sexual values and I hope that in return, they can respect mine."