Dayanara Torres

Born into a poor but very close-knit family in the small town of Toa Alta, Puerto Rico, Dayanara Torres was discovered during her senior year of high school by two scouts from the Miss Puerto Rico pageant. Although she never imagined she could compete in the pageants she grew up watching, she went ahead with their advice and represented her town in the pageant. To her great surprise, Dayanara not only won the Miss Puerto Rico crown but months later and after much preparation and training she also won the most prestigious of all beauty pageants, taking home the Miss Universe crown (1993) and becoming the youngest winner in the history of the pageant. She was only 18. Her victory not only made her a "national treasure" on her island of Puerto Rico, but also catapulted her into global stardom.

Dayanara became an international ambassador for UNICEF and continued to travel around the world as its representative even after the end of her reign.

Upon finishing her year as Miss Universe and handing over her crown to the next pageant winner in Manila, Torres became an overnight sensation in the Philippines, where she became the host of the two most popular television shows, "Eazy Dancing" and the highly rated variety show "ASAP" still broadcast throughout Asia today. Although her first ever acting role was as Sara in the Puerto Rican film "Linda Sara" directed by Oscar nominee Jacobo Morales; her next projects "Basta't Kasama Kita", "Hataw Na" and "Type Kita, Walang Kokontra" were just a few of the twelve movies she starred in throughout the four years she lived in the Philippines. In 1995 she endowed the Dayanara Torres Foundation which provided aid and scholarships to destitute kids and families in the Philippines.

Returning to Puerto Rico in 1999, Torres hit the top of the Billboard charts throughout Latin America and the Philippines with singles from her album "Antifaz", several of which also charted as Hot Latin Tracks.

After marrying and divorcing, Dayanara, the single mother of two young boys, decided to rebuild her career and quickly landed the recurring role of Elise on CBS's "Young and the Restless" as well as that of Special Correspondent for "Access Hollywood" (NBC). Not long after, she completed 66 episodes as the star of prime-time drama "Watch Over Me" (My Network TV/FOX). In 2009, Dayanara played a battered woman and mother in "The Nail" alongside William Forsythe, Leo Rossi and Tony Danza. In 2013, she starred in romantic comedy "200 Cartas" (200 Letters") with actors Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jaime Camil.

Dayanara is also a published author and her book "Married To Me" / "Casada Conmigo" (version in Spanish) is a girlfriend's guide to getting through a divorce as gracefully as possible.

In 2017, Dayanara participated and won "Mira Quien Baila" which gave a $55,000 grant to her charity, the San Jorge Children's Hospital Foundation in her native Puerto Rico. She has since become a judge on the show (2018, 2019 & 2020 & 2021).

In 2018, The Latin Recording Academy named her a Latin GRAMMY Leading Lady in Entertainment.

The magazine covers she has graced include, People en Español, Cosmopolitan, Shape, Latina, Vanidades, Caras, Imagen, Ocean Drive, Asian Bride, Siempre Mujer, Good Housekeeping and Marie Claire, among others.

Additionally, she has being the spokesperson for such well-known brands as L'Oreal, Diet Coke, Vidal Sassoon, Ray Ban, Mazda, Carefree, Pantene, Advil, Crest, Metro 7 clothing line, Hydrience/Clairol, as well as Got Milk! She was twice named "Model of the Year" by Premios Juventud (Latin Youth Choice Awards).

Dayanara's charity work includes San Jorge Children's Hospital Foundation for over 20 years, hosting fundraising events on behalf of the Covenant House CA, Same Sky, PSA's for the Susan G. Komen Foundation, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Da Vida Walk for the Oncological Hospital in Puerto Rico, spokesperson Asthma and Allergy Foundation and serving as the California Ambassador for the March of Dimes for five years.

At the beginning of 2019 Dayanara was diagnosed with Melanoma, stage 3, and in the midst of undergoing radiation treatments and thereafter she has been educating her followers about Melanoma and Skin Cancer throughout her social media platforms. It has had a huge impact and doctors and dermatologists have noticed a marked rise in Hispanics going to check their skin at their health care providers. So much so that MDedge, a medical publication, published an article last year entitled "The Dayanara Effect" Increasing Skin Cancer Awareness in the Hispanic Community" about the effect she has had on Hispanic patients as has given a new face to metastatic Melanoma.

She co-hosted Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest on ABC for two years in a row (2023 and 2024) and the 2023 Premios Juventud Awards on the Univision Network and often co-hosts Univision's El Gordo y La Flaca.