Francisca Antonia Méndez Zampogna ( née Méndez Montero; born 5 May 1989 in

Azua de Compostela Azua de Compostela, also known simply as Azua, is a Municipalities of the Dominican Republic, municipality (''municipio'') and capital of Azua Province in the southern region of Dominican Republic. Founded in 1504, Azua is one of the oldest Europe ...

) is a Dominican-American actress, TV host, and beauty pageant titleholder, who was crowned Nuestra Belleza Latina 2015 on 12 April 2015. She is currently a co-host on the popular morning show ''

¡Despierta América! ''¡Despierta América!'' (, ''Wake Up America!'') is an American Spanish language morning television show airing on Univision. Debuting on April 14, 1997, the program's primarily targets the Hispanic population in the United States. It is broad ...

'' on the

Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the Latino public and includes ...

Network. She starred in Tu Cara Me Suena and after her two mega show/gala was eliminated due to

Covid-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

exposure

Early life

Francisca was born on 5 May 1989. In her adolescence she participated and appeared in the Dominican television. She emigrated to the United States in 2010.

Nuestra Belleza Latina 2015

Francisca auditioned for Nuestra Belleza Latina in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

where she advanced to Round 2 and was invited to Miami to further compete in the competition. After 12 weeks of competition, Francisca was crowned Nuestra Belleza Latina 2015, becoming the first Dominican to win the beauty Latino pageant. Francisca, Alejandra Espinoza, and Ana Patricia Gámez are currently the only winners of Nuestra Belleza Latina to never be in the Bottom 2 or 3. She won $200,000 in prizes, a Kia Soul, a one-year contract with

network and she was featured in

People en Español ''People en Español'' is a Spanish-language American magazine published by Dotdash Meredith that debuted in 1996, originally as the Spanish-language edition of its publication ''People''. As of 2009, it is the Spanish-language magazine with the l ...

magazine's ''50 most beautiful people of 2015''.

Career

As of April 2015, Francisca works as a reporter and co-host for

's morning show ''

''. Francisca was also the host of the backstage segment called "Rincon Social" of Nuestra Belleza Latina 2016. She has also made appearances on El Gordo y la Flaca,

Sabado Gigante Saturday is the day of the week between Friday and Sunday. No later than the 2nd century, the Romans named Saturday ("Saturn's Day") for the planet Saturn, which controlled the first hour of that day, according to Vettius Valens. The day's na ...

, Sabadazo and Sal y Pimienta. In October 2016, she traveled to

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

to film Televisa's telenovela Despertar contigo. In February 2017, she co-hosted the show ''Dale Replay'' for

alongside Carlos Calderon and Alessandra Villegas. In 2018, she provided commentary for the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with co-host

Vanessa Claudio Vanessa Zayda Claudio Rodríguez (born 2 September 1983) is a Puerto Rican television personality, model, and former beauty pageant contestant. She is best known for her role as a presenter on ''Venga la Alegría'', ''Suelta la Sopa'', and ''El ...

Personal life

Francisca was married to Rochy Lachapel from 2010 to 2016. She married Italian businessman Francesco Zampogna in 2022 and lives in

Miami, Florida 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 ...

. The couple welcomed their first child on July 7, 2021.

Notes

References

External links

* * 1989 births Living people People from Azua Province Dominican Republic beauty pageant winners Dominican Republic emigrants to the United States Mixed-race Dominicans Nuestra Belleza Latina winners {{DominicanRepublic-stub