Dayanara Torres Delgado (born October 28, 1974) is a Puerto Rican actress, dancer, singer, model, and beauty queen who won the Miss Universe 1993 pageant and she was the third Puerto Rican to win Miss Universe since Marisol Malaret in 1970 and Deborah Carthy Deu in 1985.

Torres was discovered at age 17 while walking through the Plaza de Toa Alta in her hometown, and was invited to represent Toa Alta in the annual Miss Puerto Rico pageant. She won the pageant and the right to represent Puerto Rico in the 1993 Miss Universe pageant. In 1992, she participated in the Miss International pageant and became a semi-finalist. The same year, she earned second place at the Queen of the World contest.

Torres won the crown in the Miss Universe pageant held in Mexico in May 1993. Torres's victory in the pageant caused some controversy because of the claim that she was still a minor; however, Torres had turned 18 several months before the contest. When Torres returned home to Puerto Rico, she was received with a parade.

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

Career

Torres in the Philippines

After the 1993 Miss Universe pageant, Torres landed several film roles, made television appearances, and received offers to endorse products. She became a celebrity in the Philippines and lived in the country for five years. Torres endorsed Pantene shampoo in 1998-1999.

She appeared in more than 10 films, including Hataw Na, a film with Filipino actor and singer Gary Valenciano

Return to Philippines

In 2017, Torres returned to the Philippines to serve as a judge for Miss Universe 2016, along with guest appearances on Philippine television.

In February 2017, Torres was asked if she could appear on a romantic TV series with her former boyfriend and leading man Aga Muhlach; she said she was more than willing to do so.

Personal life

Torres has two older brothers, José and Joey, and a younger sister, Jeannette. Upon completion of her high school studies at Colegio Santa Rosa in Bayamón, Torres expressed interest in going to dentistry college to become an orthodontist.

Torres married singer Marc Anthony on May 9, 2000, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The marriage resulted in two sons, Cristian Anthony Muñiz (b. February 5, 2001) and Ryan Anthony Muñiz (b. August 16, 2003). Their marriage was allegedly "rocky", and the two separated, after just two years of marriage, in summer 2002. They later reconciled and renewed their vows in a ceremony in Puerto Rico in December 2002.

The couple's final separation came a year later in October 2003, with Torres filing for divorce in January 2004. The divorce was finalized June 1, 2004.

In June 2014, a judge ruled in Torres's favor by approving a doubling of Anthony's monthly child support payments (from $13,400 to $26,800); Torres initially sought $123,426 when it was alleged that Anthony spent only 35 days with their children in 2012, but the court discovered that he spent 71 days with them.

On February 4, 2019, Torres announced that she was diagnosed with skin cancer. In February 2020, she announced her completion of the last session of her radiation treatment, and shared a month later that she was cancer-free.

Accolades

  • Press Club of the Philippines 1995 (a.k.a. PMPC Star Awards for TV) – "Best New TV Personality Award" for ASAP on ABS-CBN (winner)
  • Premios Juventud 2006 – "Chica Que Me Quita El Sueño" (winner)
  • Premios Juventud 2007 – "Supermodelo Latina" (winner)
  • Premios Juventud 2008 – "Quiero Vestir Como Ella / Ella Tiene Estilo" (nominated)
  • Leading Ladies of Entertainment in 2019.

Discography

;Album

  • Antifaz (1998)

Filmography

Film

{| class="wikitable"

! Year !! Title !! Role

|-

|1994||Linda Sara||Young Sara

|-

| rowspan="2" |1995||Basta’t Kasama Kita||Princess Marinella of Bavaria / Ella

|-

|Hataw Na||Anna Alvarado

|-

|1999||Type Kita… Walang Kokontra!||Isabel Torres

|-

|2009||The Nail: The Story of Joey Nardone||Amelia

|-

|2013||200 Cartas||Yolanda

|-

|TBA||Solo Para Mujeres: The Movie||Diana

|}

Television

{| class="wikitable"

! Year !! Title !! Role

|-

|1994 || Maalaala Mo Kaya: Selyo || Diane

|-

|1995–1999, 2017||ASAP||Host

|-

|1995|| Oki Doki Doc || Yari

|-

|1996–1997||Eezy Dancing||Host/dancer

|-

|1996||Access Hollywood||Herself

|-

| rowspan="2" |1999||La Cenicienta||Cenicienta

|-

|Today with Kris Aquino|| Herself

|-

|2005||The Young and the Restless||Elise Tomkins

|-

|2006||SOP|| Guest performer

|-

|2006–2007||Watch Over Me||Julia Rivera

|-

| rowspan="7" |2017||Ang Probinsyano||Mariana Dela Vega

|-

|Magandang Buhay || Herself

|-

| It's Showtime|| Herself

|-

|Tonight with Boy Abunda || Herself

|-

|Gandang Gabi Vice || Herself

|-

|Miss Universe 2017||Judge

|-

|Mira quién baila Season 5||Winner

|-

|2018||Mira quién baila Season 6||Judge

|-

|2022–2024||Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve||Puerto Rico host

|}

Books

  • 2006 – Sonrisas Sanas y Hermosas de Ricky y Andrea <small>(co-author with Steven Fink)</small>
  • 2008 – Married to Me: How Committing to Myself Led to Triumph After Divorce <small>(co-author with her sister Jeannette Torres-Álvarez)</small>
  • 2009 – Casada Conmigo Misma: Como Triunfé Despues Del Divorcio <small>(Spanish translation of her book Married to Me...)</small>

See also

  • List of Puerto Ricans
  • History of women in Puerto Rico

References

  • Dayanara Torres interview on UPN-MyNetworkTV drama Watch Over Me
  • Dayanara's own forum in Univision Network