Alicia Machado facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Alicia Machado
Machado in 2016
Born	Yoseph Alicia Machado Fajardo (1976-12-06) December 6, 1976 (age 48) Maracay, Aragua, Venezuela
Height	1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)
Title	Miss Venezuela 1995 Miss Universe 1996
Children	1
Beauty pageant titleholder
Major competition(s)	Miss Venezuela 1995 (Winner) Miss Universe 1996 (Winner)

Yoseph Alicia Machado Fajardo (born December 6, 1976) is a Venezuelan-American actress, TV host, and former beauty queen. She became famous after winning the Miss Venezuela pageant in 1995 and then the Miss Universe 1996 title. She was the fourth woman from Venezuela to win the Miss Universe crown.

Early Life and Early Career

Alicia Machado was born in Maracay, Venezuela. From a young age, she loved performing. She started dancing when she was four years old and began acting at age 12. After attending college for a short time, she decided to focus on modeling and appearing in commercials.

Becoming a Beauty Queen

Machado first won the Miss Maracay pageant in 1995. Then, she represented Yaracuy state and won the Miss Venezuela 1995 title. The next year, she won the Miss Universe 1996 crown in Las Vegas. It was a special time because the runner-up from her Miss Venezuela pageant, Jacqueline Aguilera, also won the Miss World 1995 title. This was only the second time that two women from the same Venezuelan pageant won two major world titles.

During her time as Miss Universe, Alicia Machado gained some weight. This became a big news story and drew a lot of attention from the media. Donald Trump, who owned the Miss Universe pageant at the time, made comments about her weight. Machado later said that this experience made her very famous around the world.

Acting and TV Career

After her reign as Miss Universe, Alicia Machado started a successful acting career.

• In 1998, she got her first main role in a telenovela called Samantha.
• She also appeared in other soap operas like Secreto de Amor in 2001.
• From 2004 to 2005, she was a popular model for TV commercials.

Reality TV and Other Shows

Machado has also been a part of many reality television shows.

• In 2005, she was on a Spanish reality show called La Granja de los celebrities.
• In 2006, she joined the Mexican reality show Cantando Por Un Sueño (which means "Singing For A Dream").
• She was a contestant on Mira Quien Baila, a dance competition, in 2012, where she finished in third place.
• In 2013, she starred as the main character in La Madame, a TV series from Colombia.
• In 2014, she became a mentor on Nuestra Belleza Latina 2014, a beauty pageant show, helping contestants with modeling and TV skills.
• In 2021, she competed in MasterChef Celebrity in Colombia.
• She also started her own celebrity interview show called Whats Up Alicia in 2021.
• In 2021, Machado won the first season of the reality show La casa de los famosos with many votes. She later returned as a panelist for the second and fifth seasons.
• In 2025, she joined Telemundo's beauty pageant Miss Universe Latina, el reality as a team captain, sharing her experience with new contestants.

Involvement in Public Discussions

Alicia Machado has also spoken out on public issues.

• In 1998, she supported Henrique Salas Römer's campaign for president in Venezuela.
• In 2010, she shared her thoughts on Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez.

Discussions with Donald Trump

In 2015, when Donald Trump was running for president, Alicia Machado spoke about her experiences with him during her Miss Universe reign. She said that Trump had called her "Miss Piggy" because of her weight and "Miss Housekeeping" because of her Hispanic background. Trump's team denied these insults.

During a presidential debate in 2016, Hillary Clinton mentioned Machado's statements about Trump. The next day, Trump responded on TV, saying Machado was "impossible" and had gained a lot of weight. He also made comments about her attitude. These comments led to a lot of discussion in the news. Hillary Clinton later called Machado to thank her for her support.

Beginning in June 2016, Machado publicly supported Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. She appeared in online advertisements and introduced Clinton at a campaign event.

Personal Life

Alicia Machado has one daughter. In 2013, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had surgery. In May 2016, she became a citizen of the United States.

Filmography

Television

Films

Theater

Music Albums

Alicia Machado has also released music albums. She wrote and produced her first album, which is not common for artists in her genre.

• Alicia Machado (2004)
• Si se Acabara el Mundo (2010)

Awards and Recognitions

Midia Awards

Premios ACE

Paseo de las Luminarias

TVyNovelas Awards

Premios People en Español

Images for kids

• 

  An anti-Trump protester with a sign reading "I Am Alicia Machado" during the 2016 presidential campaign.

See also

In Spanish: Alicia Machado para niños