Alicia Machado

Yoseph Alicia Machado Fajardo (Spanish pronunciation: [aˈlisja maˈtʃaðo]; born December 6, 1976 in Maracay) is a Venezuelan actress, TV Host, singer and beauty queen who won Miss Universe 1996. She was the fourth woman from Venezuela to be named Miss Universe.

Career

Machado won the 1995 Miss Venezuela pageant entering Yaracuy and then the Miss Universe 1996 crown in Las Vegas. The runner-up, Jacqueline Aguilera, also won the Miss World 1995 crown, marking the second time that two Venezuelans from the same pageant won two world titles. Machado's reign came as Donald Trump took ownership of the Miss Universe pageant.

During her reign as Miss Universe, Machado made headlines when it was reported that she gained too much weight and the Miss Universe Organization was considering replacing her with her runner-up, Taryn Mansell of Aruba. Machado retained her title. In 1998, she made her debut on the popular Venezuelan soap opera Samantha in the titular role. She won the Midia Award in Spain and the Ace award in New York City, as the new Actress of the year. Following the success of Samantha she was called to star in Infierno en el Paraiso, another successful soap opera. In 1999 she released her debut album “Alicia En El Pais De Las Maravillas”. A second album was released in November 2007.

In 2001, she had a small role on the international soap opera Secreto de Amor. During 2004–2005, she pursued a career as a TV commercial model with particular success in promoting a dieting product. In 2005, Machado appeared on a Spanish reality show called La Granja de los famosos ("The Farm"). On February 19, 2006, Machado debuted on a Mexican reality show named Cantando Por Un Sueño ("Singing For A Dream"), a program in the line of the previous Bailando Por Un Sueño ("Dancing For A Dream"), in which the winner has the chance for a dream to come true. The show is very similar to Dancing with the Stars (U.S.) and ¡Más que baile! (formerly titled ¡Mira Quién Baila!) ("Look Who's Dancing!") (Spain).

Machado appeared in (and on the cover of) the February 2006 issue of Playboy magazine's Mexican edition, thus becoming the only Miss Universe to pose nude for Playboy.^[1] On September 9, 2012, she was one of ten competitors on the third season of Mira Quien Baila. On November 18, 2012, Alicia won 3rd place in the 3rd season of Univision's dance competition Mira Quien Baila. In 2013, Machado stars as the protagonist of La Madame, a television serial produced by RTI Productions and RCN TV in Colombia. In February 2014, she joined Univision's beauty pageant Nuestra Belleza Latina 2014 as a mentor where she will coach the participants on how to succeed in the modeling and television industry.

Personal life

In 2005, Machado was engaged to baseball star Bobby Abreu. During their engagement she was on the Spanish reality show La Granja where she was filmed on camera having sex with another member of the show. Shortly after the video surfaced Abreu ended their engagement.^[2]

On June 25, 2008, Machado gave birth to her daughter, Dinorah Valentina. She issued a statement that the father of Dinorah was Mexican businessman Rafael Hernandez Linares after Mexican news sources, quoting the Attorney General, reported that the father was Gerardo Álvarez Vázquez, a drug lord.^[3]

On November 24, 2010, BBC Mundo confirmed that Machado had to close her Twitter account after writing a tweet that called for "peace between the Chinas", referring to North and South Korea.^[4] Her gaffe unleashed a rush of insulting posts, prompting her to go offline. "I now have a lot of psychopaths on the account and it's best I start another one, kisses," she signed off, according to Venezuelan media.^[5]

Filmography

Telenovelas

Series

Films

Theater

Discography

• Alicia Machado (2004)
• Si se Acabara el Mundo (2010)

TV Programs

Awards & Nominations

Midia

Premios ACE

Paseo de las Luminarias

TVyNovelas Awards

Premios People en Español

References

External links

• Alicia Machado at the Internet Movie Database
• Alicia Machado Unofficial Website

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Chelsi Smith	Miss Universe 1996	Succeeded by Brook Lee
Preceded by Denyse Floreano	Miss Venezuela 1995	Succeeded by Marena Bencomo
Preceded by Lody Attie	Miss Yaracuy 1995	Succeeded by Romina Meraviglia

Miss Venezuela winners in the Grand Slam pageants Miss Universe Maritza Sayalero (1979) Irene Sáez (1981) Bárbara Palacios (1986) Alicia Machado (1996) Dayana Mendoza (2008) Stefanía Fernández (2009) Gabriela Isler (2013) Miss World Susana Duijm (1955) Pilín León (1981) Astrid Carolina Herrera (1984) Ninibeth Leal (1991) Jacqueline Aguilera (1995) Ivian Sarcos (2011) Miss Earth Alexandra Braun (2005) Alyz Henrich (2013) Miss International Nina Sicilia (1985) Consuelo Adler (1997) Vivian Urdaneta (2000) Goizeder Azúa (2003) Daniela di Giacomo (2006) Elizabeth Mosquera (2010) Australia Brazil Dominican Republic India Mexico Panamá Philippines Puerto Rico USA Venezuela