Alicia Machado

 Yoseph Machado Fajardo (Spanish pronunciation: [a'lisja ma'tSado]; born December 6, 1976) is a Venezuelan-American actress, TV host, beauty queen, and singer. She was Miss Venezuela 1995 and then Miss Universe 1996. She was the fourth person from Venezuela to be named Miss Universe.Machado was born in Maracay, Venezuela. Machado began dancing at age four and acting when she was 12 years old. Her mother was originally from Cuba as was her father, who was a Spanish toy shop owner. Machado began dancing at the age of four and began acting at age twelve. She then attended college for a year and half before she quit to pursue commercial appearances and modeling. She did not want plastic surgery when she was in her early training. This is an important aspect of Venezuelan beauty pageant culture. Jacqueline Aguilera was the Miss World 1995 second-place winner. This is the second consecutive year that two Venezuelans have been awarded two world titles from the same contest. Machado was chosen as Miss Universe by Donald Trump, who is an American businessman. Machado was forced to shed weight as she prepared for Miss Universe. Machado stated that, at the time she won her title, she weighed 116 lbs and was anorexic as well as bulimic.