Vanessa Minnillo was born on November 9, 1980, at Clark Air Force Base in Pampanga, Philippines. Her father, Vince Minnillo, was a USAF aircrew member stationed at the base. Her mother, Helen Berecero, was a Filipina who Vince had met and married while stationed in the country. Vanessa was raised alongside an adopted brother, Vincent, two years older than her. Vanessa traveled widely throughout her childhood. When she was 1 year old, the family moved to Los Angeles where, in 1983, her parents separated. Vanessa moved with her mother to Florida, then to Nevada. Following a 1986 divorce, Vanessa's mother entered into a second marriage with another serviceman. The new family moved to Turkey.
Vanessa was forced to flee the country with her mother and brother when Iraq, Turkey's neighbor, invaded Kuwait in 1990. Upon their return to the U.S., Vanessa and her brother were dropped off at their father's doorstep. They haven't heard from their mother since. Vanessa and her brother settled into life with their father and stepmother in Charleston, South Carolina. Vanessa always excelled scholastically, even as she attended seven different schools while abroad, and she continued to excel at Charleston's Bishop England High School.
In 1997, Vanessa was encouraged to enter a beauty pageant by her boyfriend's father. That October, she was crowned Miss Teen South Carolina. The victory qualified her to compete in the national Miss Teen USA pageant. In August 1998, she swept all categories at the event, held in Shreveport, Louisiana. Unfortunately, live coverage of her remarkable win was pre-empted by a televised address by then-president Bill Clinton about the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Vanessa returned to high school, where she continued life as an honor student and head cheerleader. She spent her weekends, however, traveling the country as Miss Teen USA and as a national spokeswoman for The Partnership Against Drugs.
Although she felt that a college degree is essential, the immediate opportunities for Vanessa coming out of high school were such that she wanted to strike while the iron was hot and pursue a career in showbiz. An appearance on Live With Regis and Kathie Lee had demonstrated that she had natural ease in front of the camera. Vanessa moved to Los Angeles and worked as a host on Fox Sports Net and ESPN, and enjoyed a stint on the daytime soap The Bold and The Beautiful. She was a runner-up for replacing Brooke Burke on E!'s Wild On. In 2003, Vanessa did her first work for MTV. She appeared on Beach House 2003, and network execs were pleased with her work. In September 2003, she started working full-time at MTV's Times Square studio in New York City. In addition to ad hoc voice work, she was a regular VJ on Total Request Live until 2007.
Vanessa continues to host other shows and specials, including 2 Punk Rock 4 This: The Real World San Diego Reunion, Spring Break Celebrity Fantasies, MTV Prom Date, and Never Before Scene: I, Robot.
[ biography courtesy of AskMen.com ]
