Juan García Postigo (born 19 January 1982) is a Spanish actor, model,

sommelier A ''sommelier'' ( , , ), ''chef de vin'' or wine steward, is a trained and knowledgeable wine professional, normally working in fine restaurants, who specializes in all aspects of wine service as well as wine and food pairing. The role of the ''s ...

, hotelier, entrepreneur, and male

beauty pageant A beauty pageant is a competition in which the contestants are judged and ranked based on various physical and mental attributes. Per its name, beauty pageants traditionally focus on judging the contestants' physical attractiveness, sometimes sol ...

titleholder who won the Mister Spain 2006 competition, and then later on won the Mister World 2007 title in

Sanya Sanya; Chinese postal romanization, also spelled Samah is the southernmost city on Hainan Island, and one of the four prefecture-level cities of Hainan, Hainan Province in Southeast China, South China. According to the Sixth National Populati ...

Hainan Hainan is an island provinces of China, province and the southernmost province of China. It consists of the eponymous Hainan Island and various smaller islands in the South China Sea under the province's administration. The name literally mean ...

, China. He is the first Spaniard to have won the title of Mister World. As an actor, García is best known for his roles in the

television show A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platf ...

s '' Los Serrano'' (2003), '' ¡A ver si llego!'' (2009), and '' La hora de José Mota'' (2009).

Biography

Early life and education

García was born on 19 January 1982 in

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

Costa del Sol The Costa del Sol (; literally "Coast of the Sun") is a region in the south of Spain in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, comprising the coastal towns and communities along the coastline of the Province of ...

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

, Spain. He attended the Colegio Público Ramón Simonet for his primary education. As a teenager, García played

indoor soccer Indoor soccer or arena soccer is a form of five-a-side football, five-a-side or six-a-side version of minifootball. It is derived from association football and adapted to be played in walled hardcourt indoor arenas. It differs from the FIFA, FIFA ...

and was his school team's

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. He was discovered at seventeen (17) years old by Manuel Beltrán, a director of a talent management agency in Málaga, while García was commencing studies for a

business management Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

degree at the University of Málaga. His foray into modeling and beauty pageant competitions, and then consequently acting, was accidental and with much hesitation at first. García's parents, especially his mother, wanted him to pursue and complete his degree before anything else. His parents did not want him to get distracted from his studies.

Career and business ventures

As a lover of wine, García is also a licensed sommelier with professional training from the Escuela de Cocina de Barcelona, and official certification from the Federación de Asociaciones de Bármanes Españoles (FABE). As an entrepreneur and hotelier, García is one of three founding partners of the Hotel Málaga Premium. He is co-owner of La Terraza Oasis de Málaga, a terrace bar, and of the Alcazaba Premium Hostel Málaga.

Pageantry

García first trained as a model under a talent management agency in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

. A few months after training, he was already walking the runways of several Spanish fashion designers and gracing the catalogs of popular menswear brands in Spain. García's decision to enter pageantry was, at first, made in jest.

Mister Spain 2006

While García was working at his brother's bar in Torremolinos, one of his friends dared him to enter the Mister Málaga 2006 competition, a precursory contest that chooses the Málagan representative to the Mister Spain competition. He disclosed in later interviews that the decision to compete at Mister Málaga and then Mister Spain 2006 was "just for fun... to have a good time," and that he did not expect to win both competitions.

Mister World 2007

After winning the Míster España title, García represented Spain at the Mister World 2007 competition in

, China. During the preliminaries, García and the other Mister World delegates competed in a number of events, including the sports and extreme challenge competitions where they had to hike and climb a mountain on

island, as well as practice

kung fu Chinese martial arts, commonly referred to with umbrella terms Kung fu (term), kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (sport), wushu (), are Styles of Chinese martial arts, multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater Ch ...

and

tai chi is a Chinese martial art. Initially developed for combat and self-defense, for most practitioners it has evolved into a sport and form of exercise. As an exercise, tai chi is performed as gentle, low-impact movement in which practitioners ...

. For the talent competition, García, a licensed sommelier, opted to demonstrate the wine decantation process. On 31 March 2007, at the finals held in Sanya City, China, García was declared Mister World 2007, besting 57 other contestants. García reigned until 27 March 2010, his title passing to Mister World 2010 Kamal Ibrahim of

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. García is the first and only Spanish Mister World winner, thus far. As a former Mister World, García was a judge at the Mister World 2012 competition held in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, England.

Views on cosmetic surgery

When asked if he had anything done on his face, Garcia said in an interview that although he has nothing against cosmetic surgery, he has done no aesthetic surgery to enhance his appearance, and that the only surgical procedure he has ever had is an

appendectomy An appendectomy (American English) or appendicectomy (British English) is a Surgery, surgical operation in which the vermiform appendix (a portion of the intestine) is removed. Appendectomy is normally performed as an urgent or emergency procedur ...

, as he once suffered from

acute appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fever and decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these typical symptoms. Severe complications o ...

Filmography

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Postigo, Juan Francisco Spanish male models Mister World winners Male actors from Málaga Living people 1982 births Male beauty pageant winners Male actors from Madrid Spanish male television actors Spanish male film actors Spanish beauty pageant winners Sommeliers University of Málaga alumni