Алисия Мачадо: от «Мисс Вселенная» до политических скандалов и откровений

Venezuelan American actress/TV host/singer/beauty queen

Yoseph Alicia Machado Fajardo (aˈlisja maˈtʃaðo; born December 6, 1976) is a Venezuelan American actress, tv host, singer and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Universe 1996, she previously crowned Miss Venezuela 1995. She was the fourth woman from Venezuela to be named Miss Universe.

Machado was born in Maracay, Venezuela. Her father was a toy store owner who emigrated from Spain and her mother's family emigrated from Cuba prior to the Cuban revolution. Machado took to performing at an early age. She began dancing at age 4 and acting at age 12.

In 1998, Machado publicly supported the presidential campaign of Henrique Salas Römer. In 2010 she criticized populist Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez in an interview with Playboy. She said that, during her year as Miss Universe, Trump called her "Miss Piggy" because she gained weight and "Miss Housekeeping" because of her Hispanic background. Trump's spokeswoman denied that Trump had made those insults. Later that week, Trump made a series of tweets in which he called her "disgusting," condemned Clinton's judgement for not "checking her past", falsely claimed she had appeared in a "sex tape", and baselessly accused Clinton of using her influence to help Machado become an American citizen. The tweets were condemned in editorials in the Los Angeles Times and The Globe and Mail. John Cassidy of The New Yorker wrote that Trump's "original comments about Machado reeked of sexism and racism" while his subsequent series of tweets "highlighted, anew, his impulsiveness and lack of discipline." The following day, Clinton telephoned Machado to thank her for her support. Beginning in June 2016, Machado publicly campaigned in support of Hillary Clinton. The Clinton campaign coordinated many of her media appearances, featured her in two online advertisements, and used her to introduce Clinton at a campaign rally.

In 1998, a Venezuelan judge accused Machado of threatening to kill him while he was presiding over a case against her then boyfriend for attempted murder. Machado was also accused of driving the boyfriend's getaway car. Machado denied both accusations and was never charged with a crime. The controversy caused a media sensation in Venezuela unseen since the conviction of President Carlos Andres Perez. Machado once dated professional baseball player Bobby Abreu; the couple later split, calling off their engagement. In 2010, responding to being mocked on Twitter after mistakenly referring to North and South Korea as China, Machado closed her Twitter account and wrote, "I now have a lot of psychopaths on the account and it's best I start another one, kisses." Machado has one daughter. In 2013, after being diagnosed with breast cancer, Machado underwent a double mastectomy. In May 2016, Machado became a U. S. citizen. In June 2019 in statements to the Hispanic show business program, Suelta la sopa, she talked about her bisexuality, claiming to have had girlfriends.