Nadine Chandrawinata was Puteri Indonesia (Miss Indonesia Universe) 2005, and a delegate representing Indonesia in the 2006 Miss Universe Pageant. She was the second Miss Indonesia to participate in the pageant (preceded by Artika Sari Devi) after a long hiatus in 1996. Her mother is German and her father is Chinese-Indonesian She has two siblings, twins Marcel and Mischa, who are also models and actors. She measures 174 cm (5 feet 8 inches) in height and 122 lb (60 kg) in weight.

Despite her stunning beauty and modelesque figure, many doubted her public speaking ability since she stuttered a lot during interviews. She has also repeatedly used incorrect words from time to time.Her English is limited, which was made obvious in an interview published in the Miss Universe 2006 website. For subsequent question and answer sessions, she used a translator.

She was born in Hannover, Germany and her family relocated to Jakarta when she was 3 years old. She is pursuing her studies at the London School of Public Relations in Jakarta.
On July 19, 2006, Nadine was reported to the police by the Islamic Front Defenders (Front Pembela Islam) for her involvement in the 2006 Miss Universe Pageant. She was accused of breaking the Code of Law 281, edict number 02/U/1984, regarding Cultural and Educational conducts. Indonesian law forbids any kind of involvement in beauty pageants and considers such an indecency. Nadine was one of several people who were reported for this misdemeanor, and others included Miss Indonesia 2004 Artika Sari Devi and the Miss Indonesia Foundation. The issue, however, seemed to have fizzled down over time and nothing ever came to fruition. According to a Miss Universe 2006 interview, she considers Mother Teresa her idol and wants to work for UNICEF in the future. Despite all the controversy, she attained runner up position for National Costume thanks to Anne Avantie who designed kebaya Kencono Wungu