Denise Marie Bidot (born June 13, 1986) is an American plus-size fashion model.

Early life

Bidot was born in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

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 ...

. Her mother is of Puerto Rican descent while her father is of Kuwaiti descent. Bidot’s mother was a beauty pageant winner who was aspiring to become a professional model, but had struggled to make it in the business due to her plus-size figure and was failing to lose weight. Bidot had started acting at the age of 12, then started traveling to

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 ...

at the age of 18 to pursue an acting career. She had faced the same challenges as her mother did with being told to lose weight in order to make it in acting. After giving up on acting, Bidot decided to work behind the scenes as a makeup artist.

Career

While working as a makeup artist, Bidot was discovered by a photographer who had approached her about getting into modelling, to which she agreed. In 2014, Bidot became the first plus-size model to walk the runway for two straight-size brands during

New York Fashion Week New York Fashion Week (NYFW), held in February and September of each year, is a semi-annual series of events in Manhattan typically spanning 7–9 days when international fashion collections are shown to buyers, the press, and the general publ ...

. Bidot has worked for clients such as

Nordstrom Nordstrom, Inc. () is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin in 1901. The original Wallin & Nordstrom store operated exclusively as a shoe store, and ...

, Forever21,

Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, fi ...

Old Navy Old Navy is an American clothing and accessories retailing company owned by multinational corporation Gap Inc. It has corporate operations in the Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco, California. The largest of the Old Navy stores are its ...

Lane Bryant Lane Bryant Inc. is an American women's apparel and intimates specialty retailer focusing on plus-size clothing. The company began in 1904 with maternity designs created by Lena Himmelstein, Lena Himmelstein Bryant Malsin. Lane Bryant, Inc., is ...

, Levi's,

Macy's Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...

. Bidot has been featured on several television shows including nuvoTV's ''Curvy Girls'', HBO's ''Habla Women'', and Yahoo! En Español web series ''Mama vs. Mama''. She has also been included on segments on ''

The Tyra Banks Show ''The Tyra Banks Show'', also known as and shortened to ''Tyra'' or ''The Tyra Show'', was an American talk show hosted by Tyra Banks that aired from 2005 to 2010. While Banks's show covered a variety of topics, there was a sensationalized focus ...

'' and ''

The Real In continental philosophy, the Real refers to the remainder of reality that cannot be expressed, and which surpasses reasoning. In Lacanianism, it is an "impossible" category because of its opposition to expression and inconceivability. In ...

''. In 2016, Bidot launched a lifestyle movement called "There Is No Wrong Way to Be a Woman". Bidot is one of the featured models in the 2016 documentary film ''Straight/Curve''. In December 2016, Bidot's picture of her wearing a two piece bathing suit in

's new resort collection ad campaign with the photo unretouched showing her stretch marks went viral within hours. In 2018, Bidot joined Univision’s reality television beauty pageant

Nuestra Belleza Latina ''Nuestra Belleza Latina'' (English: ''Our Latin beauty'') is an American reality television beauty pageant that has been broadcast on Univision from 2007 through 2016, 2018, and 2021. Reunion specials have been conducted in the years 2010, 2016, ...

as a main judge.

Personal life

Bidot began dating rapper

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman (rapper), ...

in June 2020. Bidot also has a daughter named Joselyn Adams (b. 2008) from a previous relationship.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bidot, Denise 1986 births Living people American people of Kuwaiti descent American people of Puerto Rican descent Hispanic and Latino American female models Plus-size models