The Celebrity Face

Vanessa Joy Minnillo (born November 9, 1980) is an American
television personality. A former Miss Teen USA, she is mostly known for hosting
Total Request Live on MTV from 2003–2007 as well her past reporting as a New York-based
correspondent for Entertainment Tonight. She was born at Clark Air Force Base
in Angeles City, Pampanga, Philippines. She is currently dating Aria Karimi and
Nick Lachey

Early life

Her
father, Vince, is an American of Italian and Irish descent. Her mother, Helen
Berecero, is a Filipina from the province of Pampanga on Luzon, whom Vince met
while based in the Philippines, though Minnillo referred to her mother as Polynesian
on at least one occasion. Vanessa has an adopted brother, Vincent, who is two
years older than her.

As a child, Minnillo’s family moved numerous times due to her father’s work
in the United States Air Force, including living in Washington, California,
Nevada, Florida, Germany and Japan and placing Minillo in eight different schools
within nine years. Minillo’s parents separated in 1983, divorced in 1986.

Subsequent to Helen’s remarriage to a United States Air Force serviceman, Minnillo
and her brother moved to Turkey with their mother and stepfather. By 1990, as
a result of Desert Shield, Minnillo and her brother returned to their father’s
home, eventually settling in Charleston, South Carolina where she attended Bishop
England High School and was a cheerleader.

Minnillo is fluent in English and has passing knowledge
of two languages spoken in the Philippines: Kapampangan and Tagalog. She has
a close relationship with her stepmother Donna Minnillo and brother Vincent,
but is estranged from her mother.

Career

Personal life

Minnillo was in a sporadic three-year relationship with New York Yankees
shortstop and captain Derek Jeter beginning November 2003-2006. She is currently
dating Nick Lachey, after meeting for a video shoot for Lachey’s
music video, "What’s Left of Me"

Filmography

Right now there’s a veritable army of paparazzi waiting for you
outside of this hotel bar. What about them pisses you off the most?
When they fabricate a story. That drives me crazy. The reality is that the truth
doesn’t sell. They went to lunch, they had a good time, they looked happy. Who
wants to buy that? So they exaggerate the details. It makes me cry; it really
does. People say, “Don’t let it get to you,” but I’m human. If I was acting
in a certain way, then I’d have to deal with the consequences. But when it’s
like, “That didn’t even happen”—that’s when it’s infuriating, because now it’s
in print and it’s their word against mine. I’m 25 years old, and I like to have
a drink once in a while. But I don’t need to see a picture of me everywhere
with a drink in my hand with a headline that says I was giving someone a lap
dance!

Do you miss your privacy?
I don’t have a private life. People don’t realize how powerful the media is.
It’s a beast. It’s there to build you up and take you down. It’s kind of bittersweet,
you know. Like right now we’re doing an interview for a magazine that I love.
You need to do press, but you don’t ask for it to take over your life. I understand
that when I go to work, the paparazzi will be there. But I don’t understand
why they need to be down my back when I go out of my apartment at midnight to
get some ice cream. She went to Baskin Robbins and got two scoops of mint chocolate
chip! Dunt dun duh!

Do you feel misunderstood?
I’m feeling more so now. At work I don’t put on an act; my job is me being me.
It’s like a reality show, because for an hour a day I’m live and it’s just me.
My whole life I’ve been scrutinized because I’m ethnic. My mother is Polynesian,
and my dad is Irish-Italian. So I’ve had to prove myself from the inside out.

How so?
Well, I grew up in Charleston, South Carolina—a good-ol’-boy town—and all my
friends had blonde hair and blue eyes, and there I was, looking like I look.
People would look at me and think, She must have a dark side. I’ve had to learn
that you can’t please all the people all the time.

Here’s your chance to set the record straight about who you really
are.
I’m strong, smart, and hard-working. I love the photos for this article, the
whole Bonnie and Clyde theme. In a way that’s what all this feels like. Whether
it’s my family, my friends, my man, or just myself—we’re battling this crazy
world and trying to get through it with a smile.

Who is the best interview you’ve ever done?
I can’t think of one, but some moments stick out. Sitting down with Robert Redford,
who was wearing the tightest jeans, looking handsome as ever. That man has an
aura. Watching Clive Davis sitting at a piano with Barry Manilow in a suite
at the Mandarin Oriental…and we’re all singing “Mandy” together. That was a
moment. Having Jim Carrey tell me I was funny. Seeing Beyonce and Madonna getting
nervous backstage.

What’s the one thing that people don’t understand about celebrities?
That they’re just as normal and down-to-earth as everyone else. They wake up
in the morning, go to bed at night, and have bad days. When the Olsen twins
were on, we asked them, “When was the last time you cried?” And they were like,
“This morning.”

How strange is it to go from reading the news to actually becoming
it?
When I do interviews with other celebrities, I never ask questions I wouldn’t
answer. I don’t want to pry in anyone’s life. I try to reword or pass it on
to another journalist or nix it altogether. You have to remember your audience,
too—13-year-old girls watch TRL. But it’s really hard for me to do what I do
and keep my integrity and values and morals and ethics.

Where do you see your career heading?
Right now MTV and Entertainment Tonight are my priorities. I’m not going to
look past them to see what’s next. I don’t know. You never know where things
can go. When I moved to L.A. at 19, I was like, The last thing I want to do
is a soap opera, and I never want to host—hosting is boring, and soap operas
are cheesy. Naturally, my first job was The Bold and the Beautiful, and I loved
it. Right after that I was hosting. On one hand, I can’t wait to find the man
of my dreams, get married, and have a family. I can’t wait to get pregnant,
because I can let it all hang out. You don’t have to be perfect. Everyone is
nice to you. People give up their seats for you. But on the other, I might get
that movie deal and find that that’s my bag.

How soon do you want to get married?
I don’t know. Someone who says, “I love you, I want you, I need you, but I’m
just not ready,” will never be ready—and they’re probably not the right one
for you. Men are going to hate hearing this, but women have a sixth sense, especially
about love. Men, it takes a little more convincing. They’ll think, I love her,
but I really want to hang out with the boys tonight and see the game. But I’m
not hating—I’d turn down a night out with the man for courtside seats any day!

If women have intuition, what do men have?
Honesty. Guys don’t know how to sugarcoat things. It’s all black or white—which
is good sometimes, even though it might hurt. Guys know more about women than
you think they do, and I love them for that. It’s such a game. Women tell me
to play hard to get, but I don’t know if I always agree. I might be busy, but
as soon as my man needs me, I’m there. Guys like a little bit of a chase, but
not so much of a chase that it’s work.

Which town is better: L.A. or New York?
I love L.A., but I love New York more. Ironically, I’ve found a tighter niche
in New York. New York is like, How are you? I like you. You’re cool. Let’s hang
out. I’m going to miss that if I leave. I’ll have to eventually, because I’m
not raising a family here. I don’t want my four-year-old on Canal Street hawking
fake Louis Vuitton: “Yo, this stuff is real! I just got it off the truck, playa!”