A NEW DAY: THE DAYANARA TORRES BIOGRAPHY

The life of Dayanara Torres reads like a modern-day fairy tale . . . From her modest upbringing in Puerto Rico; to being discovered on the streets of her hometown; becoming Miss Universe at the age of 18 and soon-after a movie star in the Philippines and Puerto Rico; to marrying (and divorcing); raising two beautiful boys; and bravely striving to rebuild her career in an entirely different country. Dayanara's story is what dreams or novelas, are made of. Born into a poor, very close-knit family in the small town of Toa Alta, Puerto Rico, Dayanara Torres was discovered in her senior year of high school by two scouts from the Miss Puerto Rico pageant. Although already on track to become an orthodontist, Torres decided to roll the dice and compete in the pageant instead. No sooner had she taken that pageant's crown than she found herself competing and winning the most prestigious of all pageants, the Miss Universe pageant, becoming the youngest winner in the history of the pageants, she was only 18. Her victory not only made her a "national treasure" on her island Puerto Rico, but catapulted her into instant international stardom and she has barely stopped working all over the world a moment since. The magazine covers she has graced include, among others, Cosmopolitan, People en Español, Shape, Latina, Vanidades, Caras, Imagen, Ocean Drive, Asian Bride, Siempre Mujer, Good Housekeeping, Appointment and Marie Clare. Additionally, she has being the spokesperson for such well-known brands as Diet Coke, Vidal Sassoon, Ray Ban, Mazda, Carefree, Pantene, and more recently Advil, Crest, Metro 7 clothing line, Hydrience/Clairol. While her breakneck schedule of professional appearances kept her constantly busy, Torres still found a way to make the focus of her victory humanitarianism. She became an international ambassador for UNICEF and continued to travel around the world as its representative even after the end of her reign. In 1995 she endowed the Dayanara Torres Foundation which provided aid and scholarships to destitute kids and families in the Philippines. Place she called home for the next 4 years! Torres became a literal overnight celebrity in the Philippines. 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 roll was 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 12 movies she started in. Returning to Puerto Rico, Torres hit the top of the Billboard Dance charts throughout Latin America and the Philippines with her fist album "Antifaz". Dayanara, now a 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 of the prime-time drama "Watch Over Me" (My Network TV/FOX) and was twice named "Model of the Year" by Premios Juventud (Latin Teen Choice Awards). Dayanara just started in the 2009 movie "The Nail" along side William Forsythe, Leo Rossi and Tony Danza. Her latest book "Married To Me" and "Casada Conmigo" (version in Spanish) have been an absolute must have "self help" book on how to raise above gracefully while raising kids and juggling life in between. She continues her charity work, hosting fundraising events on behalf of the Covenant House CA, appearing in PSA's for the national Breast Cancer Awareness, Susan G. Komen Foundation, the Ronald McDonald House Charities and for the last 4 years she has been the California Ambassador for the March of Dimes. Today you can find her on magazines as the new face of "Got Milk?" campaign. She lives in Los Angeles with her two sons Cristian and Ryan.