Profile of Yoanna House on Famous Like Me

Yoanna House (born April 9, 1980 in Jacksonville, Florida) is an American model and television personality. She was the winner of America's Next Top Model Cycle 2 in 2004, hosted by supermodel Tyra Banks. Her classic features, quirky and sometimes sly fashion sense and reverence for the modeling industry contributed much to her win.

House grew up in a multi-ethnic environment, her father was Canadian and her mother was Mexican. Her dream of becoming a model was very evident during her younger days. As a child she was hooked to fashion magazines and has had a fetish for fashion and beauty, she explains that while her peers where consciously prying on boys, she was off anxious of what her Barbie would wear. Apparently, her grandmother had infused the idea of a modeling career on her. House recalls “I was always in her closet […] We would watch TV... read magazines... go to the mall. She taught me about couture and how important it was. A lot of my appreciation came from her.”

During her pubescent years, House was slightly overweight. Her plump physique was always subjected to ridicule and didn’t pave much luck for her ambition. But she was persistent to pursue a career involving fashion. She didn’t complete three years of college and decided to work as an assistant for a local fashion designer at the same time working as a babysitter.

In 2003, during the surge of reality TV, House auditioned for the sequel to UPN’s highly successful reality show, America's Next Top Model. Although it came to be as the break she was waiting for, House was skeptical and apprehensive that her size wasn’t up to industry standards. Before appearing in the show, Yoanna hired a personal trainer and adopted a healthy diet.

In two years, 5'11" Yoanna lost 60 pounds and went from a size 10 to a size 2. She credits Yoga and Pilates as effective workouts for her.

In the initial episode, House impressed the judges with her classic face and her high-fashion appeal. But there was still plenty of work to be done, House needed refurbishing and fine-tuning. In the course of the show she was involved in a catfight with fellow contestant Camille McDonald who also insinuated issues of House being bulimic, McDonald was eventually eliminated after being in the top five. House was also subjected to a lot of criticisms involving her body, the judges felt that she didn’t have the right body tone to back up her striking face. The judges were always keen that Yoanna needs to work her body in photo shoots. She took all the blistering scrutiny with grace and found herself in the final two battling head-to-head with contestant Mercedes Scelba-Shorte in a D’Squared (D2) runway show. In the finale, House was eventually named as the winner of the competition. She landed a much coveted modeling contract with IMG, a fashion spread in Jane Magazine and became the face of Sephora, a cosmetics company. She debuted on the runway a week from winning at the Mercedes-Benz Los Angeles Fashion Week.

Since her victory, House has been featured in a variety of magazines, commercials and billboards. She has appeared on shows like On Air With Ryan Seacrest, the Late Show with David Letterman, and Live with Regis and Kelly.

In Summer 2005, Yoanna replaced Elisabeth Hasselbeck as the host of the Style Network's The Look for Less.

Quotations

When asked why she brings huge luggage "People ask why we carry such big bags. It's because we pack blankets so we can catch some sleep anywhere we can."

Trivia

• Height: 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
• Weight: 134 lbs (66 kg)
• Measurements: 32-24-34 (US); 84-61-86 (EU)
• Dress Size: 6 (US); 36 (EU)
• Shoe Size: 7 (US); 38 (EU)
• Eyes: Blue
• Hair: Brunette
• Ethnicity: Mexican-Canadian
• Nationality: American

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