By Louisa Pisani. Nobody was interested in watching Britney. The curvaceous year-old is certainly used to turning heads — and her omnipresence makes her hard to ignore. But her rise to the top has been fraught with tragedy and heartache. One of six children born to a housewife and a cattle farmer in Barranquilla, Colombia, Vergara was scouted for her first TV commercial at The Pepsi ad, which featured the teen beauty in a bikini, was an immediate hit throughout Latin America.
But, for a while at least, Vergara eschewed red carpets in favor of root canals. In , her older brother Rafael, 27, was murdered in their hometown. Then one day he went out alone and was shot dead [in a kidnapping attempt gone wrong]. I was devastated. The lifestyle was certainly seductive.
In , the same year Vergara received her cancer diagnosis, Paciello was charged with the felony murder of a Staten Island housewife in a botched robbery. She has never forgotten who she is. Paciello pleaded guilty to murder and ratted out mob bosses to shorten his sentence. Cruise went on to marry Katie Holmes a year after his ill-fated dalliance with Vergara. She purchased 21 tickets for the Emmy Awards so that her family could have a taste of her showbiz life. Nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in , , and , she has never won.
In , Julio was deported back to Colombia. Even when horrible things happen to me, I go on. That sense of stoicism was further tested during her volatile relationship with Onion Crunch founder Nick Loeb, The couple met at a Golden Globes party in and were on and off for four years.
The couple finally split last May, two months before Vergara went public with her latest paramour, actor Joe Manganiello. Having frozen her eggs back in , Vergara has been candid about her willingness to use a surrogate if she cannot conceive naturally. Read Next. This story has been shared 21, times. This story has been shared 17, times.
