Carmella Danielle DeCesare Garcia (born July 1, 1982)
is an American
model
A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure.
Models c ...
who was ''
Playboy
''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from H ...
'' magazine's
Miss April 2003 and Playmate of the Year for 2004. She is also known for her time in
WWE
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vari ...
as a
WWE Diva
Throughout its history, women have served in various onscreen roles in the American professional wrestling promotion WWE. In the 1990s, WWE (then known as the World Wrestling Federation) introduced the term Diva to refer to its female performe ...
search contestant. She was featured in the 2008 ''
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue
The ''Sports Illustrated'' Swimsuit Issue is published annually by American magazine ''Sports Illustrated'' and features female fashion models, celebrities and athletes wearing swimwear in various locales around the world. The highly coveted co ...
'' in the players' wives feature.
Early life
Carmella DeCesare was born July 1, 1982. A native of
Avon Lake, Ohio, she is of Italian and Puerto Rican ancestry.
["Carmella DeCesare"]
CraveOnline. Retrieved November 11, 2017.
Career
Modeling career
Carmella DeCesare came to Playboy's attention after she applied to a Fox reality show ''Who Wants to Be a Playboy Centerfold'' search. After she was selected as a finalist, she withdrew from the competition due to having second thoughts about the endeavor. When ''Playboy'' publisher
Hugh Hefner learned this, he invited her to his birthday party and convinced her to change her mind. She was subsequently chosen as a Playboy Cyber Girl of the Week, then a Cyber Girl of the Month before becoming Playboy's Miss April in 2003.
[
DeCesare appeared in the 2005 ''Playmates at Play at the ]Playboy Mansion
The Playboy Mansion, also known as the Playboy Mansion West, is the former home of ''Playboy'' magazine founder Hugh Hefner who lived there from 1974 until his death in 2017. Barbi Benton convinced Hefner to buy the home located in Holmby Hill ...
'' swimsuit calendar as calendar girl of March. The calendar was the inaugural ''Playmates at Play'' calendar and it was shot on the grounds of the Playboy Mansion in 2004. It was ''Playboy''s first attempt at creating a non-nude swimsuit calendar featuring Playmates similar in style with those from ''Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue
The ''Sports Illustrated'' Swimsuit Issue is published annually by American magazine ''Sports Illustrated'' and features female fashion models, celebrities and athletes wearing swimwear in various locales around the world. The highly coveted co ...
''. In 2005, DeCesare received breast implants
A breast implant is a prosthesis used to change the size, shape, and contour of a person's breast. In reconstructive plastic surgery, breast implants can be placed to restore a natural looking breast following a mastectomy, to correct congenita ...
. In an episode of the E! reality-TV series ''The Girls Next Door
''The Girls Next Door'' (also known as ''The Girls of the Playboy Mansion'') is a reality television series which focuses on the lives of Hugh Hefner's girlfriends who live with him at the Playboy Mansion. The series was created by executive pr ...
'' in August 2005, she said that her implants looked fake because they were new and had not fully settled.
DeCesare modeled in the 2008 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue
The ''Sports Illustrated'' Swimsuit Issue is published annually by American magazine ''Sports Illustrated'' and features female fashion models, celebrities and athletes wearing swimwear in various locales around the world. The highly coveted co ...
.[
]
Professional wrestling career
World Wrestling Entertainment (2004)
DeCesare made her first World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and va ...
(WWE) appearance as a contestant in the 2004 WWE Diva Search
''WWE Diva Search'' (formerly ''WWE Raw Diva Search'') is an American talent competition that was produced and held by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). The first winner was Jaime Koeppe, but she did not receive a contract like subsequent winne ...
. Following the Diva Search she feuded with Diva Search winner Christy Hemme
Christina Lee Hemme ( ; born October 28, 1980) is an American former professional wrestler, singer and model. She is best known for her time in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (now known as Impact Wrestling) as a ring announcer and one of the o ...
which led to a Lingerie Pillow Fight match at Taboo Tuesday
WWE Cyber Sunday (originally known as WWE Taboo Tuesday) was an annual professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), a professional wrestling promotion based in Connecticut. Established in 2004, th ...
. She left the promotion soon after.
Charity work
DeCesare and her husband, Jeff Garcia, founded the Garcia Pass It On Foundation in order to share resources with people in less fortunate circumstances.
Legal issues
On September 10, 2004, DeCesare pleaded not guilty to assault in a Cleveland, Ohio court after a fight in a bar on August 21, 2004 with a woman named Kristen Hine. She was acquitted of the assault charge on January 12, 2005 but found guilty of violating a restraining order. She was sentenced to do twenty-four hours of community service, given one year probation, and fined $150. During the trial, DeCesare testified that Jeff Garcia
Jeffrey Jason Garcia (born February 24, 1970) is a former American football quarterback. After attending high school and junior college in Gilroy, California, Garcia played college football at San Jose State University.
A four-time CFL All-Sta ...
, her boyfriend at that time and the quarterback for the Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...
, had been involved in an affair with Hine after DeCesare's and Garcia's relationship began. Garcia commented, "It's embarrassing that I am here today, to be caught up in a situation like this."
Personal life
On April 21, 2007, DeCesare married then- NFL quarterback Jeff Garcia
Jeffrey Jason Garcia (born February 24, 1970) is a former American football quarterback. After attending high school and junior college in Gilroy, California, Garcia played college football at San Jose State University.
A four-time CFL All-Sta ...
at the CordeValle Resort in San Martin, California
San Martin or San MartÃn ( Spanish for Saint Martin) is a village and census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Clara County, California, in the southern Santa Clara Valley. Located to the south of Morgan Hill and north of Gilroy, San Martin i ...
. Their first daughter, Presley, was born on April 28, 2008. The couple welcomed their second child, a son, Jason in June 2009. The couple's third child, a son named Jax was born on September 21, 2010. In December 2011, their fourth child, a daughter, Faith was born.
References
Other sources
*"Carmella DeCesare". ''Cleveland Magazine''. v. 34, n. 1. January 2005. 71.
* Bill Lubinger. "PTA presidents, grandmas and actresses: Ohio-linked playmates have nothing to hide". ''The Plain Dealer''. December 1, 2003.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Decesare, Carmella
1982 births
Living people
People acquitted of assault
People from Avon Lake, Ohio
2000s Playboy Playmates
Playboy Playmates of the Year
Hispanic and Latino American Playboy Playmates
WWE Diva Search contestants
Professional wrestlers from Ohio
American female professional wrestlers
American professional wrestlers of Italian descent
21st-century American women