Susie Castillo VRP
Official Website: http://www.susiecastillo.com/
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susie_Castillo
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1477107/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SusieCastillo
Susie Castillo (born October 27, 1979) is a former American beauty queen who held the Miss USA title and competed in the Miss Teen USA and Miss Universe pageants. She pursued a career in the media, and as such, has made various television appearances and hosted shows such as MTV’s Total Request Live as a VJ.
Early Life:
Castillo was born in Methuen, Massachusetts, to a Dominican father and Puerto Rican mother who were divorced when she was a child. After her father abandoned the family, her mother moved to Lawrence, Massachusetts, where she was occasionally on welfare, and worked multiple jobs in order to cover living and educational expenses for her family.
By 1996, at the age of 16, Castillo had already become a professional teen model appearing in many teen magazines and commercial advertisements. Upon graduating from Methuen High School, she enrolled at Endicott College, and in 2001 earned her Bachelors Degree in Interior Architecture and Design. She was awarded the Capstone Award, an honor which was bestowed upon her in recognition of her senior thesis. She is a member of Kappa Delta Sorority.
Career:
In 2003, Puerto Rican and Dominican, Susie Castillo, became the third Latina ever to win the Miss USA Pageant, prompting People en Español to name her one of the 25 Most Beautiful, and launching her career in entertainment. With a strong presence and personality, Susie quickly emerged as one of television’s most recognizable faces, being named to Maxim’s Hot 100 List in 2008 and Complex Magazine‘s 50 Hottest Dominican Women in 2011.
Susie most recently co-hosted the NBC series, School Pride, executive produced by Cheryl Hines. As co-host and designer on the show, Susie used her Interior Architecture and Design degree to give neglected public schools a much-needed facelift and empower communities across the country to help change America’s broken public education system. In September 2013, she joined Oxygen Media as On-Air Network Personality.
Inspired by her young MTV fans, in 2007, Susie accomplished one of her biggest dreams when her first book Confidence is Queen: The Four Keys to Ultimate Beauty through Positive Thinking was published by Penguin.
Susie’s other hosting credits include CBS Sports’ Arthur Ashe Kids Day, NBC’s Superstars of Dance, produced by Nigel Lythgoe and Simon Fuller from American Idol, guest host on Live! With Regis and Kelly, and the live telecast of the Miss USA Pageant, to name a few.
As an actress, Susie portrayed Mercedes Hernandez throughout Season 5 of Tyler Perry’s hit TBS sitcom, House of Payne. She also guest-starred on several TV shows, including the hit ABC shows Castle and My Wife and Kids, as well as UPN’s Half and Half. This holiday season, Susie co-starred in Hallmark Channel’s A Holiday Engagement, and recently wrapped on the independent film More Than Stars. She made her feature film debut in Disney’s Underdog, playing the role of News Reporter Diana Flores.
She also signed on as the brand ambassador for Charlotte Russe (retailer) and Gossip Girl stylist, Eric Daman, who is going to help her design her own line influenced by her Latino heritage.
In 2007, Castillo became a spokeswoman for Neutrogena. Castillo’s work for Neutrogena includes serving as the “virtual host” of the company’s promotional web site, The Big Blush. In 2008, Castillo hosted the ABC Family reality television series, America’s Prom Queen. With Michael Flatley, she is the co-host of the NBC dance-competition series Superstars of Dance in 2009.
Personal Life:
On October 7, 2006, Castillo married Matthew Leslie in a quiet ceremony in Ipswich, Massachusetts. The two met shortly after Castillo won Miss Massachusetts Teen USA, Leslie proposed to Castillo during an appearance on the talk show On-Air With Ryan Seacrest in April 2004, just prior to Castillo passing on her crown during the Miss USA 2004 pageant. During her spare time Castillo does volunteer work for HAWC (Help for Abused Women and Children), the Lawrence Girls Club and for the Latinas Against Sexual Assault.
On April 27, 2011, Castillo issued a statement attacking the USA Transportation Security Administration (TSA), alleging that she had been groped and touched inappropriately four times during the enhanced pat-down. She released a blog post and video describing the experience, and created an online petition demanding an end to the “enhanced” pat-downs.
Castillo recently posed nude for a PETA anti-fur campaign, stating that she had always loved animals. Castillo urges the beauty pageant industry to stop awarding fur coats as prizes while exposing animals to unnecessary torture “in the name of fashion”.
Susie Castillo currently resides in Los Angeles.
In the media:
Former Miss USA Susie Castillo Recruits Fellow Pageant Winners To Strip For PETA
Susie Castillo, Former Miss USA, Protests Airport Pat-Down in YouTube Video
http://abcnews.go.com/US/susie-castillo-tsa-pat-miss-usa-leads-youtube/story?id=13565765