Latino VJ

Background:

"I decided to make news, not give it." Daisy Fuentes

Cuban-American beauty Daisy Fuentes is widely recognized as the first person to do double duty as a VJ on both MTV USA and its Spanish-language sister network, MTV Internacional (later became MTV Latino). She also gained widespread popularity while working as a host for MTV’s “House of Style” (1997-1998) and co-host for “America's Funniest Home Videos” (1997-2000, with John Fugelsang).

The Latin beauty, who stands at 5' 10'' tall and has 35C-24-36 ½ measurements, was a spokes-model for Revlon cosmetics. She was involved with Latin rocker Luis Miguel (born in 1971; met at an interview in 1991; together from 1995 to 1998) and is currently engaged to British singer Matt Goss (dating in 2001; engaged as of March 2003).


Homecoming Queen

Childhood and Family:

In Havana, Cuba, Daisy Fuentes was born on November 17, 1966, to parents Amado Fuentes (real-estate broker) and Maria Fuentes. She has one younger sister, Rosana Fuentes (born in 1972), an advertising copywriter who currently lives in Miami. When Daisy was three years old, the Fuentes family moved to Madrid, Spain, and finally immigrated to Harrison, New Jersey, four years later.

Daisy Fuentes graduated from Harrison High School (Hudson County), in New Jersey in 1984, where she was once the homecoming queen. She then studied communications and journalism at Bergen Community College, in Paramus, New Jersey. In 1990, she married her high school sweetheart, actor Timothy Adams (later acted on the NBC soap opera "Sunset Beach"), but they divorced in 1994. Daisy Fuentes currently resides in New Jersey.


TV Passion

Career:

"That's my passion… television." Daisy Fuentes

Daisy Fuentes began her showbiz career as a model at age 16 years old, when a neighbor asked if she would substitute for a sick model at a photo shoot. Four years later, while she was studying communications and journalism at Bergen Community College, Daisy was recruited to become a weather girl at NYC's Spanish-language station WXTV Channel 41, a Manhattan Univision's New York affiliate. She soon moved up the ranks and worked as a news anchor at WNJU Channel 47, Telemundo's New York affiliate, and once was a reporter for the evening news.

In 1988, Daisy Fuentes sent a demo tape and letter to MTV. The next year, she was hired by MTV as a VJ for the MTV Internacional (later became MTV Latino), a one-hour Spanish-language music show aired in Latin America and the USA. She eventually worked in the original MTV, where she became one of the network's more popular hosts and was soon being courted by companies to be a spokesmodel. Daisy became the first person to do double duty as a VJ on both MTV US and its Spanish-language sister network, MTV Latino.

Daisy Fuentes has hosted House of Style and One on One with Michael Jordan (among others) on the original MTV and Latin MTV. Daisy has also hosted "Beach MTV," the "The Top 20 Countdown" on American MTV and the “Top 20 Videos” for MTV Latino. She was also the reporter for MTV USA's Third Annual Rock N' Jock B-Ball Jam (1993).

From 1994 to 1995, Daisy hosted her own talk show on CNBC called "Daisy Fuentes," and hosted MTV’s "House of Style" from 1997 to 1998. She received even wider popularity when she co-hosted ABC’s "America's Funniest Home Videos" from 1997 to 2000, along with New York comedian John Fugelsang. The show earned Daisy a nomination at the ALMA Awards for Outstanding Host in a Variety/Music/Comedy Special or Series, in 1999. During that time, she also hosted The Alma Awards in 1997, Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve '98, The 1998 World Music Awards and the 1999 Billboard Latin Awards.

Meanwhile, Daisy also tried her hand in acting and won a regular role as Tess (1992) on the ABC soap opera, “Loving.” In 1996, she appeared in Latino Laugh Festival (TV) and was nominated for a NCLR Bravo Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female in a Variety or Music Series/Special. That same year, Daisy made her film-acting debut in the Reb Braddock-directed dark comedy Curdled (1996, starring Angela Jones and William Baldwin).

In the new millennium, Daisy starred in the brief-lived TV series "I Spike" and costarred with Steve Borden and Gary Chalk in the action TV movie helmed by Mark Sobel, Shutterspeed. She had also appeared as a guest on such shows as “Dream On,” “The Larry Sanders Show,” “Cybill,” "Clueless," "Mad TV," "Baywatch" and "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

As a host, Daisy hosted the Miss Universe Pageant in 2002 and 2003, as well as Miss USA in 2003 and Miss Universe 2004. The tall, attractive Latin beauty also branched out to modeling. She signed a multi-year contract as an international Revlon cosmetics spokes-model, following in the steps of supermodels Claudia Schiffer, Cindy Crawford and Halle Berry. She also modeled for American Express, Pantene, M&M's, Miller Lite and was showcased in 1996 and 1997 Landmark calendars. She had posed for a number of magazines, including Spanish Cosmopolitan and Harper's Bazaar, as well as Fitness, Latina and Shape. Daisy Fuentes also launched her own exercise video and appeared in infomercials for Winsor Pilates, a yoga-type exercise system.


Awards:
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