Model and winner of the 2003 Miss Universe beauty pageant, Amelia Vega set a record by becoming the youngest beauty queen to have won the crown at the age of 18. She also holds the record of being the first person out of the Republic of Dominican to win the crown. We take you through her journey to fame as we reveal some facts about her family and personal life.
Amelia Vega Bio, Age
Amelia Vega, popularly known as Amelia Victoria Vega Polanco de Guerra was born on the 7th of November 1984 to the family of Otto Vega Rasuk (father) who was a general medical practitioner in Miami and New York, and Patricia Polanco Alvarez (mother), a pilot and a former beauty queen herself.
At a very young age, 17, she won Miss Dominican in 2002 and represented the Dominican Republic in the Miss Universe election which was held in Panama on 3rd June 2003. She would also win that and by so doing, she became the youngest Dominican to win the Miss Universe crown. She became active in the entertainment industry since then as she began traveling and participating in numerous events and organizations such as Go Red For Women, amFAR, Global Health Council, Cable Positive, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, and Gods Love We Deliver.
When Vega won the Miss Universe in 2003, she set a trio of important records. Firstly, she was the first Dominican woman to win the title. Secondly, she was the youngest winner since the year 1994 at age 18 and thirdly, she broke a record as she was the tallest person to ever win the Miss Universe pageant. According to Latin Trends, Vega has pageants in her blood. Her mother was the Miss Dominican Republic in 1980 and a Miss World contestant.
She attended and graduated from Barbizon Modeling and acting school in Santo Domingo where she began singing, acting, and modeling. In the 2003 pan games after visiting 30 countries around the world including Indonesia, China, Mexico, Germany, Russia, and Switzerland, Amelia Vega began her modeling career, with stints as the cover of several prestigious magazines (Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Bazaar, Selecta, etc).
After her reign, she relocated to an apartment in New York (owned by Donald Trump) as part of her overall prize package. Amelia Vega co-hosted the festival Presidente de music Latina and in 2004, presented a reality show ‘Suegras’ and later received an honorary medal in her country.
According to her modeling school profile, Vega also hosted the Telemundo reality show Voces de America and the Mexican reality show Segunda Oportunidad in 2007. As Miss Universe, she represented the Miss Universe organization.
Husband and Family
The former Miss Universe, Amelia Vega is married to Alfred Joel Horford Reynoso (Al Horford for short), an NBA player for Boston Celtics. They wedded on December 24, 2011, after dating for two years. The couple had their first child on February 23, 2015, and named him Ean Horford Vega.
On the 27th of November 2016, they had a second child, a daughter named Alia. Vega and her husband, Horford met while in Boston during the awards for the Latin pride in Boston. Horford, who was born in Puerto Plata is from The Dominican Republic alongside his wife, Amelia Vega.
According to Metro West Daily News, Horford had begun his career with the Atlanta Hawks before he signed with the Celtics and later moved to Boston with Vega and their first child, Ean Horford. Though they didn’t start dating until four years after they met, Horford was confident and satisfied with the wife he was going to marry.
Al Horford married his girlfriend, Vega in an intimate ceremony at the house of her uncle, Luis Guerra in the presence of their families. They decided to exchange vows on Christmas Eve because the NBA’s 2011-2012 season had begun on Sunday after being shortened due to a lengthy layout. Family and friends showed up to the ceremony without even knowing it was a ceremony as they thought they were showing up for Christmas, and not a wedding.
Height and Other Facts
Vega is 6 feet 2 inches (1.88m) tall with a body measurement of 36-26-37 inches (breast-waist-hip).
She has brown hair and brown eyes.
She wears a bra size of 36B, a shoe size of 9 (US), and a dress size of 8 (US).
Her net worth is estimated at $1 million.
She has tried her hands at running so many businesses including two boutiques called ‘Essence by Amelia Vega’ in Miami.
Vega has also made a lot of TV/film appearances as a musician. She was featured in the 2005 movie, The Lost City directed by Andy Garcia 2005.
