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Vanessa Minnillo
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Vanessa Joy Minnillo (born November 9, 1980) is an American television personality. She was Miss Teen USA 1998 and is currently a host on MTV's Total Request Live in addition to being the NY-based correspondent for Entertainment Tonight.
Contents
- 1 Biography
- 1.1 Early life
- 1.2 Career
- 1.3 Personal life
- 2 Footnotes
- 3 External links
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Biography
Early life
Minnillo was born in Clark Air Base, Angeles City, Philippines to Vincent Minnillo and Helen Berecero.
Her father is an American of
Italian and
Irish descent; the ethnicity of her estranged mother remains ambiguous with Minnillo initially referring to her as a
Filipina from the province of
Pampanga and
Leyte,
[1][2] and then later making reference to her as
Polynesian during an interview with
Maxim magazine for her October 2006 cover story.
[3]
As a child, her family moved numerous times due to her father's work in the United States Air Force. Her family spent time in California, Nevada, Florida, Germany and Japan before eventually settling in Charleston, South Carolina. Her parents are divorced, and she has a close relationship with stepmother Donna Minnillo, and an older adopted brother, Vincent. Vanessa is fluent in English and has passive knowledge of the Filipino languages Kapampangan and Tagalog.
Minnillo became Miss South Carolina Teen USA 1998, and went on to win the 1998 Miss Teen USA Pageant. She was the first delegate from South Carolina to capture the title and received the Congeniality Award in 1998. On the final night of competition she received the highest scores in the Interview, Swimsuit, and Evening Gown categories. Vanessa holds the record for receiving the highest score ever given to a contestant in any Miss USA, Miss Universe, and Miss Teen USA pageant. She received a 9.96 in the swimsuit category on final night. Miss Colombia Universe 1994/Miss Universe 1st runner up, Carolina Gomez, held the previous record in the evening gown category with a 9.897. Miss Alabama USA 2000/Miss USA 2nd runner up, Jina Mitchell, attempted to beat the record in the evening gown category with a 9.93.
Career
Minnillo was one of the finalists in E!'s competition to find a replacement for Brooke Burke as hostess for the show Wild On. The job eventually went to Cindy Taylor.
Before joining MTV, she had minor roles in
The Bold and the Beautiful,
television series City Guys,
That's Life, and
Maybe It's Me.
Minnillo has been hosting TRL on MTV since 2003. Her first interview on TRL was with hip-hop artist Chingy. In 2005, she also became a New York-based reporter for the entertainment news show, Entertainment Tonight. In addition to her work on TRL, she has served as a host or co-host for a variety of MTV specials, and served as a celebrity judge for the Miss Teen USA pageant in 2003.
In May 2006, Maxim magazine listed Minnillo as #15 in their
Hot 100 issue. She was listed as #62 in the 2005 issue and was the Maxim cover girl for both the October 2005 and October 2006 issues.
Minnillo was chosen for BONGO Jeans' Spring/Summer 2007 advertising campaign, and will be featured in a series of print ads depicting and inspired by classic 60's pin-up girls.[4]
Personal life
Minnillo had an on-and-off relationship with New York Yankees shortstop and captain Derek Jeter from November 2003 to early 2006.[5] Minnillo was featured in Nick Lachey's music video for "What's Left of Me", which was nominated for "Best Male Video" at the 2006 MTV Music Awards. Since the summer of 2006, she has been dating singer Nick Lachey, member of former boy-band 98 Degrees and ex-husband of singer/actress Jessica Simpson.
Footnotes
