What's my Name

By Justin Monroe
Photography by Jamil GS When Vanessa Minnillo argues that she’s not a celebrity, it’s hard to take her seriously. Twenty-five and drop-dead gorgeous, her Irish-Italian-Filipina face has been familiar since she was crowned Miss Teen USA in 1998. After the military brat finished high school, she appeared on the aptly titled soap The Bold and the Beautiful before becoming co-host of MTV’s Total Request Live in 2003 and a correspondent for Entertainment Tonight last April.

Technically a member of the media, Minnillo certainly receives the celeb treatment, at least from the tabloids, which have “linked” her to Derek Jeter, 50 Cent, and Orlando Bloom, amongst others. “Part of my job is to flirt and have a good time,” she admits. “They love to think that if you’re talking to someone, or if you see someone at a club and you literally walk by their table, you’re automatically sleeping with them.”

The outspoken Minnillo is a natural on camera, bringing charm and sensitivity to her television interviews. Having experienced invasion of privacy firsthand, she treads gingerly when digging into the lives of others. At ET, she once refused to prod Nicole Kidman. “It was right when the Katie Holmes-Tom Cruise thing came out,” recalls Minnillo. “It was about, ’Has Katie met your children, and what do you think about it?’ I said, ’I’m really sorry, and I never want to tell you guys no, but no, I can’t ask her this.’” Beyond mere empathy, Minnillo doesn’t want to offend people she hopes to someday act beside.

As if to definitively prove her non-celeb status, Minnillo explains that people still frequently mistake her for dimes like Jessica Alba, Tia Carrere, and Christina Milian (she’s very offended, we’re sure). “I’ll know I’m a celebrity when everyone from the mom, the dad, and the kid knows that my name is Vanessa Minnillo,” she says, pausing. “And they can spell my last name.”

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