Alicia Machado (full name Yoseph Alicia Machado Fajardo) was born on December 6, 1976 and she was the fourth woman from Venezuela to win the Miss Universe crown. Alicia Machado won the Miss Venezuela 1995 pageant representing Yaracuy.
Biography and Career :
Alicia Machado was born in Maracay in the state of Aragua. Despite not being a major favorite for Miss Venezuela, Alicia Machado defied all predictions and went all the way to win the Miss Universe 1996 pageant in Las Vegas. The runner-up, Jacqueline Aguilera, also won the Miss World 1995 crown, marking the second time that Venezuela had held the two world titles simultaneously. Alicia Machado's reign came as Donald Trump took ownership of the Miss Universe pageant, and was marred by a scandal surrounding her weight gain fo
llowing her win.
Shortly after her crowning, Alicia Machado was asked what she would do now that she was Miss Universe. Alicia Machado immediately replied in Spanish "Eat! Eat! Eat!". The heavy schedule of her new responsibilities as Miss Universe left little time for the intensive weight-control program that had previously undertaken, and she soon gained several pounds. The Kellogg Company, breaking a contract, withdrew the planned production of "Special K" breakfast cereal boxes featuring Alicia Machado's photo. Donald Trump referred to her publicly as an "eating machine," insisting that winners of the title have an "obligation to stay in a perfect physical state."
A few months after winning the tittle of Miss Universe, Alicia Machado started to gain weight, to which she atributed to the 'wisdom teeth' she had to take out and so made her look a little chubby. Nevertheless, Alicia Machado kept gaining weight until she reached about 12 kilos (about 20lbs) overweight. The organizers of Miss Universe though of taking the crown from here since she was representing the most beautiful, and perfect woman in the world, and so overweight didn't make happy the board of directors.
In January 1997, Mr. Trump, the president of Miss Universe humiliated her making her workout in front of photographers. Alicia Machado argued about this but, at the end she had to do it because she was an 'employee of the Miss Universe Organization'
Alicia Machado has been the most publicized Miss Universe. It made so much news around the globe that in the 1997 Miss Universe one of the questions to the contestants was "Do you think if the elected Miss Universe gains weight, should she be disqualified as Miss Universe?" to which all answered "No" because whether she, Miss Universe, gains weight or not, she's still the same person.
When Alicia Machado returned the corwn to her succesor, she started working as an actress performing in telenovela "Samata" winning the Nidia Awards as best actress. Alicia Machado's worked on a number of telenovelas, and she's still as beautiful as she can be
Among the controversies that have followed her career is a supposed rivalry with fellow former Miss Universe Amelia Vega, who is also breaking into the Latin American music industry. Another was the breakup of her engagement to major-league baseball star Bobby Abreu in May 2005. Abreu, an idol in the Latin world and an icon in Venezuela, split with Alicia Machado after she was filmed being intimate with another man on La Granja ("the farm"), a Spanish program similar to Big Brother. They had been planning to marry in December.
During 2004–2005, Alicia Machado pursued a career as a TV commercial model with particular success in promoting a dieting product.
Alicia Machado appeared on the cover of the Mexican edition of Playboy magazine for the February issue of 2006, becoming the first and only Miss Universe to do so.
Alicia Machado signed the contract with Playboy in November 09, 2005. The 1996 Miss Universe has dedicated her being photographed by Donald Trump who called her an “eating machine” when she gained weight after winning the beauty pageant.
On February 19, 2006, Alicia 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) where the winner have the chance for a dream to be true, it is very similar to Dancing with the Stars (USA) and Mira Quien Baila (Spain).
Filmography :
"Granja de los famosos, La" (2005) Realty Show
"Noche de juegos" (2004) TV Show .... Host
"Mambo y Canela" (2002) Telenovela .... Canela
"Secreto de amor" (2001) Telenovela
"Estamos unidos" (2000) Sitcom .... Mari
"Infierno en el Paraíso" (1999) Telenovela .... Marian Ordiales
"Samantha" (1998) Telenovela .... Samantha del Llano
Budweiser (1998) TV Commercial
"Nanny, The" (1997) Sitcom .... Herself - as Miss Universe
irrelevant
broken