Vanessa Joy Minnillo (born November 9, 1980) is an American television personality, television host, model, and actress. A former Miss Teen USA, she is mostly known for hosting Total Request Live on MTV from 2003–2007 as well her past reporting as a New York-based correspondent for Entertainment Tonight.
Early life
Minnillo was born November 9 at Clark Air Force Base in Angeles City, Pampanga, Philippines, the daughter of Helen Berecero and Vince Minnillo, who was a U.S. Air Force Aircrew member.1 Her father is an American of Italian and Irish decent. Her mother is a Filipina from the province of Pampanga in Luzon. Helen met Vince when he was based in the Philippines.234 Minnillo has an adoptedcitation neededbrother Vincent, who is two years older than her.
As a child, Minnillo's family moved numerous times due to her father's work in the United States Air Force, including living in Washington, California, Nevada, Florida, Germany and Japan and placing Minillo in eight different schools within nine years5 Minillo's parents separated in 1983, divorced in 1986.6
Subsequent to Helen's remarriage to another United States Air Force serviceman, Vanessa and her brother moved to Turkey with their mother and stepfather. By 1990, as a result of Desert Shield, Minnillo and her brother returned to their father's home, eventually settling in Charleston, South Carolina where she attended Bishop England High School and was a cheerleader.7 Vanessa was raised from then on by her father and his second wife Donna.
Career
Beauty pageants
Minnillo entered the public eye as Miss South Carolina Teen USA 1998, and went on to be crowned as the winner of the 1998 Miss Teen USA pageant. She was the first delegate from South Carolina to capture the title and the first winner of the pageant to be chosen as Miss Congeniality.
She later co-hosted the Miss Teen USA 2004 pageant with Tony Potts and Miss Universe 2007 with Mario LĂłpez.
Hosting
She is best known for hosting MTV's Total Request Live (TRL), 2003–20078 and as an Entertainment Tonight NYC correspondent, 2005-2007.
She hosted Miss Teen USA (2004) and co-hosted Miss Universe (2007).
Minnillo was a finalist in E!'s competition to find a replacement for Brooke Burke as host for the show Wild Oncitation needed losing out to Cindy Taylor.
She has hosted True Beauty, a competition in which 10 contestants competed for $100,000 and inclusion in People Magazine's 100 Most Beautiful People issue. The series premiered on ABC on January 5, 2009 and ended on February 23, 2009 for its first season. ABC renewed the series for a second season as a midseason replacement.
Advertising
Since leaving MTV and Entertainment Tonight, she has been featured in a print and web-based advertising campaign for BONGO Jeans' Spring/Summer 2007 collection.9
She has been the spokesperson of Flirt! Cosmetics, a line she helped create that debuted in August 2007 in Kohl's department stores.10
In May 2006, Maxim magazine listed Minnillo as #15 in its Hot 100 issue.11
She was on the covers of Maxim (October 2006, October 2007), Shape (March 2007) and Lucky (July 2007).
Acting
Minnillo has appeared in episodes of television series such as That's Life, City Girls, The Bold and The Beautiful and Maybe It's Me. She returned back to television as Ashlee in an episode of How I Met Your Mother in 2008 during its third season.
Vanessa made her theatrical debut in the 2007 Superhero film Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer in a cameo as Julie Angel. The film earned a total gross of $289,047,763 and received mixed reviews. The film was a sequel to the 2004 Superhero film Fantastic Four.
She later appeared in the 2008 Spoof Comedy Disaster Movie as the lead female Amy. The film was released on the 29 of August 2008 in Los Angles, California. The film had moderate box office success earning $34,624,652 worldwide. The film received extremely negative reviews earning itself six Razzie Award nominations. It currently stands at number one on the IMDb Bottom 100 as of May 2009.
Vanessa was to appear in the 2009 Romantic Comedy Redefining Love but it was announced she was no longer attached.
Personal life
Minnillo was in a sporadic three-year relationship with New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter from November 2003-2006. Minnillo also had a short relationship with musician Ahiram Orozco during early 2007. After meeting Nick Lachey and starring in his music video "What's Left of Me" 6, the pair dated for nearly three years. Minnillo's publicist confirmed the couple's split in June 2009.12
Minnillo is fluent in English and has passing knowledge of two languages spoken in the Philippines: Kapampangan and Tagalog. She has a close relationship with her stepmother Donna Minnillo and brother Vincent.
Filmography
Television
References
External links