Vanessa Minnillo has lived a short but eventful life. After being crowned Miss Teen South Carolina and then Miss Teen USA in 1998, she has made many appearances on television and has become well known for hosting MTV's Total Request Live from 2003 to 2007. She was also the New York based correspondent for an entertainment magazine, reporting on fashion, movies and television news. She is beautiful with a sweet personality. Definitely one to watch for the future.

Vanessa Minnillo was born on November 9, 1980, in the Philippines where her father, Vince Minnillo, was an Air Force Aircrew Member. He is of Irish and Italian extraction, whilst her mother, Helen Berecero is a Filipina. Vanessa was raised alongside an adopted brother, Vincent, who is two years older than her.
She and her family, moved around America, Germany, and Japan before settling down in Charleston, South Carolina. Vanessa attended seven different schools during this time.

In 1986 Vanessa's parents were divorced and Helen was awarded custody of both children. Vanessa only saw her father on weekends. Vanessa's mother entered into a second marriage with another serviceman and the new family moved to Turkey. When Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990 the family moved back to the United States. Vanessa's mother left the children in the care of their father as a supposed temporary measure but then promptly disappeared and has not been heard of since.

Vanessa and her brother began a new, happy, life with their father and his new wife Donna, whom Vanessa now calls her "best friend".

In 1997, the father of one of Vanessa's boyfriends suggested that she enter a beauty contest. That she did and in October of that year she was crowned Miss Teen South Carolina. The victory qualified her to compete in the national Miss Teen USA pageant. In August 1998, she swept all categories at the event, held in Shreveport, Louisiana. In the competition she received the highest scores in the Interview, Swimsuit, and Evening Gown categories.

Vanessa returned to high school, where she continued life as an honor student and head cheerleader. She spent her weekends, however, traveling the country as Miss Teen USA and as a national spokeswoman for The Partnership Against Drugs.

After this success Vanessa went on to serve as a backstage correspondent for "The 50th Annual Miss USA Pageant" in 2001, a judge for "Miss Teen USA" in 2003, a host for “Miss Teen USA” in 2004, a judge for “Miss Teen USA” in 2007 and co-host of the 2007 “Miss Universe Pageant” in Mexico City.

In addition to serving as an Entertainment Tonight correspondent, Minnillo encountered overwhelming success serving as a co-host for MTV’s “Total Request Live” from 2003 to 2007, as well as hosting several MTV specials including "MTV's Prom Date," "2 Punk Rock 4 This: The Real World San Diego Reunion," “High School Stories” and "Spring Break Celebrity Fantasies." In 2002 Minnillo hosted the UK crossover hit "Top of the Pops" for The WB, and in 2005 she hosted the live finale of UPN's "The Road to Stardom with Missy Elliott." While with MTV, Vanessa was responsible for interviewing the biggest names in music, movies and television on a daily basis.

In addition, Minnillo has appeared on numerous television sitcoms such as The WB's "Maybe it's Me" in 2002, CBS's "That's Life" in 2001 and NBC's "City Guys" in 2001. She also had a recurring role on CBS's "Bold and the Beautiful" and was one of the finalists in E!'s competition to find a replacement for Brooke Burke, previous hostess for "Wild On."