Brett Michael Novek (born April 26, 1984) is an American male fashion model and

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

. He is a

campaign Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed *Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme * Bl ...

-level model for Papi

Underwear Undergarments, underclothing, or underwear are items of clothing worn beneath outer clothes, usually in direct contact with the skin, although they may comprise more than a single layer. They serve to keep outer garments from being soiled o ...

and appears on their product packaging and sales and promotional material. In 2007, he was a contestant in season one of VH1's

reality competition Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

television program ''

America's Most Smartest Model ''America's Most Smartest Model'' is an American reality television show that aired on VH1. The hosts were Ben Stein and Mary Alice Stephenson. The show attempted to find brains behind beauty in a series of challenges, and would grant the winner ...

'', in which he placed fourth.

Biography

Early life

Novek was born in

Fort Lauderdale A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

the second son of Robin and David Novek. He was born and raised in a Jewish family. Novek has an older brother, Craig, who he considers to be his best friend. Novek graduated from the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...

in 2006, majoring in

Marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

Early career

While working out at a gym, Novek met professional model Gregg Avedon, who submitted Novek's information to a modeling agency. An initial photo shoot was done with photographer Scott Teitler and this led to him signing with

Irene Marie Models Irene Marie Models was a modeling and talent agency in Miami Beach, Florida. The agency was one of South Florida's first exclusive agencies. The agency closed in 2009. History Irene Marie Models was founded in 1983 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida ...

and modeling for clients such as Papi Underwear, which used Novek for an advertising campaign and live modeling events.

Recent events

In 2007 Novek moved from

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

to pursue other modeling opportunities and video, television, and film work. Novek has signed with L.A. Models, and Joy Models Management in

Milan, Italy Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...

. After his father died from

non-Hodgkin lymphoma Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), also known as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, is a group of blood cancers that includes all types of lymphomas except Hodgkin lymphomas. Symptoms include enlarged lymph nodes, fever, night sweats, weight loss, and tiredness. ...

in 2008, Brett started the clothing compan
Good HYouman
in an attempt to save others from the heartache he felt, of which a portion of its profits goes to help people with

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

and

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). In current usage the name usually refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlar ...

''America's Most Smartest Model''

In May 2007, Novek participated as one of sixteen professional model contestants in the taping of season one of ''

''. The game show consisted of a series of challenges that led to each model being eliminated from the contest until only the winner remained. Novek symbolically tied with the eventual winner VJ Logan for the most number of challenges won, but ended the game in fourth place. When the show aired later in the year, Novek appeared in episodes 1 to 9. He talked about his bar mitzvah in episode nines extras 'model behavior'. At the end of the ninth episode, Novek was eliminated. According to the judges, it was because of a disappointing performance in an automobile presentation challenge and because it appeared that he had lost his motivation after his friend and fellow contestant, Jeff Pickel, was eliminated the episode before.

Commercial Work

Novek has appeared in an

Ashlee Simpson Ashley Nicolle Ross ( Simpson; born October 3, 1984), known professionally as Ashlee Simpson, is an American singer and actress. The younger sister of singer and actress Jessica Simpson, she began her career as a back-up dancer for her sister ...

video ("Outta My Head"), an advertising campaign for LA Fitness, and in a 10 Minute Trainer fitness video (Tony Horton's 10 Minute Trainer). Modeling clients include

Hollister Co. Hollister Co., often advertised as Hollister or HCo., is a retail brand owned by Abercrombie & Fitch Co, selling apparel, accessories, and fragrances. Goods are available in-store and through the company's online store. Hollister uses a narrativ ...

Armani Exchange Giorgio Armani S.p.A. (), commonly known as Armani, is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in Milan by Giorgio Armani which designs, manufactures, distributes and retails haute couture, ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes, accessories, and ...

, Emporio Armani, Parke and Ronen,

Cosmo Girl ''CosmoGirl'', also stylized as ''CosmoGIRL!'', was an American magazine based in New York City, published from 1999 until 2008. The teenage spin-off of ''Cosmopolitan'' magazine, it targeted teenage girls and featured fashion and celebrities. It ...

, and

Target Corporation Target Corporation (doing business as Target and stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American big box department store chain headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the seventh largest retailer in the United States, and a compon ...

. His online clothing catalog credits include RevolveClothing.com and SportScheck.com. In 2008, Novek appeared in a national television commercial for

Taco Bell Taco Bell is an American-based chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired foods, includi ...

and another for

Optimum Online Optimum is an American Internet, television, mobile and home phone company serving Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas ...

Filmography

Film

Television

Personal life

Brett Novek lived with fellow ''

'' contestant Jeff Pickel in Los Angeles, California. He currently lives with fellow model/actor Erik Fellows.