Yoseph Alicia Machado Fajardo (born December 6, 1976), commonly known as Alicia Machado, was the fourth woman from Venezuela to win the Miss Universe crown. Machado was born in Maracay in the state of Aragua. She is the daughter of a Cuban father and Spanish mother.

Machado won Venezuela's 1995 pageant representing Yaracuy and then the Miss Universe 1996 crown in Las Vegas. The runner-up, Jacqueline Aguilera, also won the Miss World 1995 crown, marking the second time that Venezuela had held the two world titles simultaneously. Machado's reign came as Donald Trump took ownership of the Miss Universe pageant.


Weight gain controversy

During her reign as Miss Universe, Machado made headlines when it was reported that she gained too much weight and the Miss Universe Organization was considering replacing her with her runner-up, Taryn Mansell of Aruba. In the end, Machado managed to shed some of the weight and retained her title. Donald Trump, however, was less magnanimous. While calling in live on the Howard Stern radio show to promote the 1997 Miss Universe pageant, he called her an "eating machine," which earned her more international fame.

After Miss Universe

In 1998 Alicia made her debut on the popular Venezuelan soap opera Samantha as the lead role. Following the success of Samantha she was called to start in Infierno en el Paraiso another successful soap opera that made her a well known actress.In 2001 she had a small role on the international successful soap opera Secreto de Amor.During 2004–2005, she pursued a career as a TV commercial model with particular success in promoting a dieting product. In 2005, Machado appeared on a Spanish reality show called La Granja ("The Farm") and caused scandal when she was filmed having sex with another show participant. After the film and photos became public, her then-fiancee, New York Yankees' right fielder Bobby Abreu, broke off their engagement.

On February 19, 2006, Machado debuted on a Mexican reality show named Cantando Por Un Sueño ("Singing For A Dream") a program in the line of the previous Bailando Por Un Sueño ("Dancing For A Dream") in which the winner has the chance for a dream to come true. The show is very similar to Dancing with the Stars (U.S.) and Mira Quién Baila ("Look Who's Dancing") (Spain).

Machado appeared in (and on the cover of) the February 2006 issue of Playboy magazine's Mexican edition, thus becoming the first and only Miss Universe to pose nude for Playboy. She dedicated her photographs to Donald Trump and Shane Filan (former dream lover). One of her movies was titled I love Miami, sharing credits with Ofelia Medina.

She currently lives in Mexico City. According to People en Español she is five months pregnant and for now unwilling to reveal who the father is.