Beauty pageant titleholder | |
Born |
La Paz, El Salvador |
August 25, 1992
---|---|
Occupation | Model, TV host, Actress |
Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) |
Hair color | Brown |
Eye color | Brown |
Title(s) | Miss Carnaval San Miguel Las Vegas 2012 Nuestra Belleza Latina 2013 |
Major competition(s) |
Nuestra Belleza Latina 2013 (Winner) |
Marisela De Montecristo (born August 25, 1992 in El Salvador) is a Salvadoran American beauty pageant title holder who was crowned Nuestra Belleza Latina 2013 on May 19, 2013.
Since winning the title she has made appearances on several television shows, she was a backstage presenter on Premios Juventud and worked as a model on Sabado Gigante. She made an appearance as the main dancer in the Fun music video by Pitbull featuring Chris Brown.
Marisela Demontecristo was born on August 25, 1992 in La Paz, El Salvador. Pursuing her dream of a career as a television presenter, Demontecristo studied communications in college. Marisela Demontecristo was born and raised in the post-Salvadoran Civil War dacade and rising gang (Maras) violence that began taking hold of the country in the 1990s. At age 10 she like many Salvadorans, immigrated to the United States and settled with the Salvadoran diaspora. Marisela was the first woman from El Salvador to win the crown and the second Central American to win the pageant after Nastassja Bolivar from Nicaragua. Marisela is known as the sweet, humble, noble and generous queen, with the heart of gold, donating her prize money to a school for children in her native town in El Salvador.
Marisela Demontecristo's win, nicknamed The Cinderella Season, which gained her popularity due to her humble modest background, was living in Las Vegas, Nevada at the time she auditioned for the contest and expected to use some of the $250,000 cash prize to help her mother and fund surgery required for her niece. After 11 weeks of competition, Marisela won $250,000 in cash and prizes, a brand new Kia Forte, and a one-year contract with Univision. After her win, Marisela traveled to El Salvador to donate her prize money to her childhood elementary school. Marisela Demontecristo's perseverance and triumph is seen as a bright and positive beacon among the Hispanic immigrant community, especially from Central America. She was first woman from El Salvador to win this beauty pageant. Marisela was the second woman from a Central American country to win the pageant, after Nicaraguan Nastassja Bolivar in 2011. At age 21, she was also the second youngest person to win this pageant after Alejandra Espinoza who won at age 20. She is however the first winner to have been born in the 1990s, whereas her predecessors and two of her successors were all born in the 1980s. Since her win, Marisela has been invited to host small Central American pageants and has been invited to several U.S cities to receive notable awards for representing the Hispanic community. In September 2015, Marisela was invited to the White House in Washington D.C, for an awareness speech about Central American migrant children. She is often seen as the "Salvadoran American equivalent" of Halle Berry and Giovanna Antonelli for her physical and body similarities.