Alicia Machado
actress, TV show host, singer, Miss Universe 1996 and Miss Venezuela 1995

Yoseph Alicia Machado Fajardo (Spanish pronunciation: [aˈlisja maˈtʃaðo]; born December 6, 1976) is a Venezuelan-American actress, TV host, singer and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Universe 1996, she previously crowned Miss Venezuela 1995. She was the fourth woman from Venezuela to be named Miss Universe.
Early life
Machado was born in Maracay, Venezuela. Her father was a toy store owner who emigrated from Spain and her mother's family emigrated from Cuba prior to the Cuban revolution. Machado took to performing at an early age. She began dancing at age four and acting at age 12. Machado attended college for a year and a half but left to pursue modeling and appearing in commercials.
Career
Machado won the 1995 Miss Maracay pageant, and then the 1995 Miss Venezuela pageant representing Yaracuy state and then the Miss Universe 1996 crown in Las Vegas. Early in her training, she refused plastic surgery recommended to her, notable in Venezuelan beauty pageant culture. The runner-up, Jacqueline Aguilera, also won the Miss World 1995 crown, marking the second time that two Venezuelans from the same pageant won two world titles.
The public source identifies “Alicia Machado” as actress, TV show host, singer, Miss Universe 1996 and Miss Venezuela 1995. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Alicia, Machado and actress.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Alicia Machado”, the useful work is to connect “actress, TV show host, singer, Miss Universe 1996 and Miss Venezuela 1995” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q649736. VIAF identifies the subject as 80137390. The Library of Congress control number is no2005088793. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1976, 1996 and 1995.
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This entry incorporates text from “Alicia Machado” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.