Dayanara Torres

Dayanara Torres Biography

Dayanara Torres Delgado (born on October 28, 1974 in San Juan, Puerto Rico) is a Puerto Rican actress, singer, model and former Miss Universe.

At age 17, Torres was approached while walking through the Plaza de Toa Alta in her hometown and was subsequently invited to represent Toa Alta in the annual Miss Puerto Rico Pageant. She won the pageant and the rights to represent Puerto Rico at the 1993 Miss Universe pageant. Previously in 1992, she had participated in the Miss International pageant, where she placed among the semi-finalists, and placed second in the Queen of the World contest.

The Miss Universe pageant was held in Mexico City in May 21, 1993 and Torres won the crown. Torres's victory in the pageant caused some controversy because it was claimed she was still a minor. However, Torres had turned 18 several months before the contest. Her victory also raised some eyebrows as she won neither the preliminary round nor the semifinals. Torres anara was received in Puerto Rico with a massive parade.

During and after her reign, she became an ambassador of UNICEF, traveling through Asia and Latin America in support of the organization. She even created the Dayanara Torres Foundation which provided scholarships to poor students in Puerto Rico and the Philippines. In 1994 she went to Manila to crown the new Miss Universe. During the ceremony, she sang "A Whole New World" as a duet with Peabo Bryson.

After the 1994 Miss Universe pageant, Dayanara Torresreceived offers to endorse products, appear on television programs, and act in movies. She lived in the Philippines for five years, becoming a celebrity in the country. She also appeared in more than 10 movies, including a film with Filipino actor and singer Gary Valenciano called "Hataw Na." During that time, she also filmed Linda Sara, a Puerto Rican film directed by Jacobo Morales where she was paired with fellow Puerto Rican singer, Chayanne. The film was released in 1994. She also became a staple figure on Philippine television every Sunday on the show "ASAP", which gave her the title "Dancing Queen" because of her impressive dancing skills.

During her time in the Philippines, she had a relationship with Filipino superstar actor Aga Muhlach. (Muhlach is now married to Charlene Gonzalez, Miss Philippines-Universe 1994.) Torres and Aga first met each other on the set of her first Philippine movie, Basta't Kasama Kita (As Long As I'm With You). Their relationship lasted four years. She also learned Tagalog, the main language of the country.

She returned to Puerto Rico in 1998 and released her first album (and only one, as of now) called Antifaz. It reached the top of the Billboard charts through Latin America and the Philippines. She also starred in several theater productions in the island. That same year, a "Dayanara" doll was released and sold out in the island and in the Philippines.

Dayanara Torres married singer Marc Anthony on 9 May 2000 in Las Vegas. They have two sons, Christian Anthony Muñiz (5 February 2001) and Ryan Anthony Muñiz (16 August 2003). It was a rocky marriage,and they separated in summer 2002. They later reconciled and renewed their vows in a spectacular ceremony held in Puerto Rico in December of 2002. In 2003, a Miami waitress filed paternity charges against Anthony; multiple DNA-tests, the last in August 2004, disproved her claims. The couple's final separation was in October 2003. Torres filed for divorce in January 2004.

As the divorce proceeded, Anthony was seen out with actress-singer Jennifer Lopez, a long-time friend he had worked with in music videos. They had briefly dated in the late '90s, before his first marriage and her second one. Lopez and Anthony were recording a duet together in early 2004, for Lopez's then-upcoming film Shall We Dance? Lopez and Anthony married in a quiet home wedding on June 5, 2004, less than a week after his divorce from Torres was finalized on June 1. The media, however, was tipped off that morning of the wedding, and circled Lopez's backyard in helicopters. Photographs, alerting the rest of the world, soon followed. Reports fueled rumors that Lopez was pregnant but this was not the case.

On September 1 of 2005, she debuted in an American soap opera, playing a small role in The Young and The Restless. The programs producers expressed an interest in future appearances, though Torres, to date, has not reappeared on the program.

On March 6, 2006, Dayanara Torres had emergency surgery in New York, to correct an intestinal obstruction that was detected after she had felt pain during a flight from Los Angeles the day before.