Michelle Leonardo (born June 28, 1991) is an American dancer and model and beauty pageant contestant who won the
Miss New Jersey Teen USA
The Miss New Jersey Teen USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of New Jersey in the Miss Teen USA pageant.
New Jersey has had a moderated success at Miss Teen USA, with ten placements. In the first twenty ...
pageant in 2008 and the
Miss New Jersey USA
The Miss New Jersey USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the U.S. state, state of New Jersey in the Miss USA pageant. It is produced by D&D Productions.
New Jersey has yet to win the Miss USA title, although from ...
pageant in 2012. She placed in the Top 10 at Miss USA 2012. She won Miss Teen United States-World 2009 and placed 3rd runner up at Miss Teen World 2009.
Leonardo is currently a Digital Investment Supervisor at Horizon Media and is dancing for the New York Knicks. In 2015, Leonardo was a dancer for the
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...
. She appeared on ''
Guiding Light
''Guiding Light'' (known as ''The Guiding Light'' before 1975) is an American radio and television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the third longest-running drama in television in American history. ''Guiding Light'' a ...
'' and in
print ad
Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...
s for corporations such as
Polaroid
Polaroid may refer to:
* Polaroid Corporation, an American company known for its instant film and cameras
* Polaroid camera, a brand of instant camera formerly produced by Polaroid Corporation
* Polaroid film, instant film, and photographs
* Polar ...
, Million Dollar Baby Swimsuits and
Sesame Street
''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) a ...
Kids. She has been in three Seventeen Magazine Fashion shows including one for Fall
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 ...
. She was an on-air reporter for the Boston-based show ''Style It Up''.
Michelle Leonardo was born to Anthony and Laura Leonardo in
Montclair, New Jersey
Montclair () is a township in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated on the cliffs of the Watchung Mountains, Montclair is a wealthy and diverse commuter town and suburb of New York City within the New York metropolitan area. As ...
and raised in
Tinton Falls
Tinton Falls is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 17,892, She has one younger sister, Lainie. Leonardo attended
Red Bank Catholic High School
Red Bank Catholic High School is a four-year private coeducational Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic secondary education in the United States, high school, located in Red Bank, New Jersey, Red Bank in Monmouth County, New Jersey, Monmouth Co ...
in
Red Bank, New Jersey
Red Bank is a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. Incorporated in 1908, the community is on the Navesink River, the area's original transportation route to the ocean and other ports. Red Bank is in the New York Metropolitan A ...
. She graduated from
Suffolk University
Suffolk University is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. With 7,560 students (includes all campuses, 7,379 at the Boston location alone), it is the eighth-largest university in metropolitan Boston. It was founded as a l ...
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...
in
broadcast journalism
Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are broadcast by electronic methods instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. It works on radio (via air, cable, and Internet), television (via air, cable, ...