This section contains Biography of the world famous actress and celebrity Alicia Machado

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.

In 1998, after her reign as Miss Universe, Alicia became the leading actor in the Venezuelan soap opera, “Samantha”. After her first successful soap opera, she was cast in another daily drama in the soap “Infierno en el Paraiso”, which gave Alicia credit for her acting skills and led to a small appearance in an international soap opera, Secreto de Amor in 2001. She also starred in other operas, including Mambo & Cinamon in 2002, Panther in 2007 and Love Without in 2007. By 2004, Alicia became a TV commercial model, famous for promoting diet products. The following year, Machado grabbed a gig in a Children reality show, “La Granja”.

On February 2006, Alicia Machado joined a Mexican reality show called “Cantando Por Un Sueño (Singing for a Dream)”, which has a similar theme to the U.S. show, ‘Dancing with the Stars’ with the exception of the fact that winners have a chance to make their dreams come true. Exactly when she was on this reality show, Machado graced the February 2006 cover of the Mexican version of Playboy Magazine, becoming the first Miss Universe to pose nude for the infamous magazine and attracting more fans worldwide. Ironically, she dedicated her Playboy spread to Donald Trump, who unintentionally gave a boost to Alicia’s career in 1997.

Alicia Machado is also a singer at heart, even releasing her own self-named album, “Alicia Machado” in 2002. She had a film debut in “I Love Miami” with Ofelia Medina, Juan Luis Gallardo and Jaime Camil, among others. Alicia gave birth to her first daughter Dinorah in June 25, 2008 and is currently living in Mexico City.