Born Yoseph Alicia Machado Fajardo on December 6, 1976 in Araqua, Alicia is the middle child and the only girl of a toy-store owner Arturo Machado and a Subway-restaurant owner Martha Fajado. Alicia demonstrated her passion for the arts as early as 8 years old when she started studying dance. At 10 years old, she joined the school choir to enhance her love for music.

Alicia graduated from High School and pursued a degree in Business Administration, but later switched to Law. However, she decided to quit school as she wanted to start a career in the Entertainment industry. She signed up with an agency, started modeling in commercials and participated in the 1995 search for Miss Venezuela. She won and at only age 18, she competed in the Miss Universe Pageant and won the most prestigious beauty pageant title around.

Alicia Machado became the fourth beauty queen to win the Miss Universe crown at Las Vegas in 1996, the same year when billionaire Donald Trump took over the Miss Universe pageant. Although Machado’s beauty made headlines when she won the Miss Universe title, it was only until she experienced a 20-pound weight gain that she graced every form of media, including celebrity gossip shows, tabloids and websites - a publicity she never thought would lead to the start of her acting career. Her Miss Universe title became in jeopardy due to the weight gain, but she turned it around and lost the extra pounds. Donald Trump added insult to injury when he called in live on Howard Stern’s radio show to promote the 1997 pageant by calling Machado an “eating machine”. However, this remark earned Alicia Machado more international fame than embarrassment.
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