Miriam Rivera (1981 – 5 February 2019), known by the

mononym A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. In some cases, a mononym selected by an individual may have originally been from a polynym, a word which refers to one o ...

Miriam, was a Mexican-born

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

model and TV personality, who resided in New York City, who became known for starring on the British

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1 ...

show ''

There's Something About Miriam ''There's Something About Miriam'' is a British reality television series broadcast by Sky1. The six-episode series premiered on 22 February 2004 and concluded on 24 March 2004. Set in Ibiza, Spain, the series depicted six men in competition fo ...

'' and guesting on ''

Big Brother Australia 2004 ''Big Brother 2004'', also known as ''Big Brother 4'', was the fourth season of the Australian reality television series '' Big Brother'', and was aired on Network Ten, starting on Sunday 2 May 2004, with the housemates entering the day before, ...

''. She became recognized as the first openly transgender reality television star. Rivera also modelled and, using the name Victoria, performed in pornography. Miriam was an activist and spokesmodel for the transgender community. She was found dead in February 2019 at her apartment in

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into 72 municipalities; the ...

, Mexico. She was deemed to have died by suicide, but her husband believed she had been murdered. In 2021, Wondery published an investigative podcast series into Rivera's life and her appearance on the show ''There's Something About Miriam'' titled ''

Harsh Reality Harsh Reality are a little-known, proto-prog band formed in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England, in 1968 out of the remnants of the Freightliner Blues Band (formerly the Revolution). The band consisted of Mark Griffiths and Dave Jenkins on guit ...

''. In June 2022, a similar three-part documentary series, called ''Miriam: Death of a Reality Star'', was commissioned by Channel 4 from Expectation Entertainment.

Life and career

Rivera was born in 1981 in Mexico. She was born male, but displayed signs of gender dysphoria since the age of four. She said that while her three brothers liked

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

, she preferred

Barbie Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by American toy company Mattel, Inc. and launched on March 9, 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration. ...

dolls."Dinner Date—Miriam,"
Rachael Popow, ''Press Association'', 25 February 2004. Rivera said strangers assumed she was a girl: Rivera said she soon started taking

hormones A hormone (from the Greek participle , "setting in motion") is a class of signaling molecules in multicellular organisms that are sent to distant organs by complex biological processes to regulate physiology and behavior. Hormones are required ...

. She told reporters she

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

after being suspended from school at age 12, and her family was supportive.Agencia Reforma (28 August 2004). La transexual mas bella del planeta según revista anglosajona. New Magazine. Remy Blumenfeld first saw Rivera participating in a girl band, after which he planned to cast her in a TV show that was later released as ''

''. She was filmed in

Ibiza Ibiza (natively and officially in ca, Eivissa, ) is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, in Spain. Its la ...

for ''There's Something About Miriam'' in 2003, but the show's airdate was delayed until out-of-court settlement of litigation by contestants in 2004. It originally aired in the United Kingdom on

Sky1 Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

in February 2004. Hosted by

Tim Vincent Tim Vincent (born Timothy Russell Walker; 4 November 1972) is a Welsh actor and television presenter. He appeared on the children's programme ''Blue Peter'' between 1993 and 1997 and has presented several Miss World contests. For several years, ...

, it featured six men wooing Rivera without revealing that she was transgender until the final episode. Rivera enjoyed the attention she received following the show. After the high ratings for the show, she was cast as a guest on ''

'', also produced by

Endemol Endemol B.V. was a Dutch-based media company that produced and distributed multiplatform entertainment content. The company annually produced more than 15,000 hours of programming across scripted and non-scripted genres, including drama, reality ...

. A documentary about her life was commissioned but not aired.Mutel, Glen (19 February 2004)
Miriam prepares to bare all in doc about 'her' life.
'

Broadcast Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began wi ...

'' She stated she never planned to have

sex reassignment surgery Gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is a surgical procedure, or series of procedures, that alters a transgender or transsexual person's physical appearance and sexual characteristics to resemble those associated with their identified gender, and a ...

, citing concerns about complications or loss of sensation. She said, "My mother always says to me, 'Why would you want to be half-and-half? Why don't you want to be a complete woman?' But I just love myself and I'm really enjoying my life." The ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'' reported that Rivera was seriously injured in 2007 when she was thrown out of a third-story window at her home. Rivera later told reporters she fell out of a fourth-story window while trying to escape a burglar. In 2008, she was a special guest on

Ewa Drzyzga Ewa Drzyzga (born in December 1967 in Kraków) is a Polish journalist and TV presenter. She was a host of talk-show ''Rozmowy w toku'' in 2000–2016 and since 2017 hosts medical show ''36,6°C''. on TVN.(19 April 2011)Telewizje zarabiają na ...

's TVN show ''Rozmowy w toku'' in Poland. In more recent years, Rivera was active in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

ball culture The Ballroom Scene (also known as the Ballroom community, Ballroom culture, or just Ballroom) is an African-American and Latino underground LGBTQ+ subculture that originated in New York City. Beginning in the late 20th century, Black and Latin ...

Personal life and death

Rivera was married to Daniel Cuervo, with whom she lived in New York City. She was found dead on 5 February 2019, in her apartment in Mexico. Her death was confirmed by Cuervo in a Facebook post and received news coverage six months later. Her death was classified as suicide by hanging by the police, but Cuervo believes she was murdered. Cuervo received a death threat from someone who told him to "never come back to Mexico" and not to prepare her funeral.

Filmography

*''

'' (2003, Brighter Pictures) *''

'' (2004,

) *''

TV Burp ''Harry Hill's TV Burp'' (also known as just ''TV Burp'') is a British television comedy programme broadcast between 2001 and 2012 on ITV. The show was produced by Avalon Television and was written and hosted by comedian Harry Hill. Each ep ...

'' (2004) *''

Rove Live ''Rove'', also titled ''Rove Live'', was an Australian television variety show that featured live music performances and interviews with local and international celebrity guests. The program premiered on the Nine Network on 22 September 1999, bef ...

'' (2004) *'' Good Morning Australia'' (2004)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rivera, Miriam 1981 births 2019 suicides Big Brother (Australian TV series) Mexican LGBT entertainers Mexican LGBT actors Mexican pornographic film actresses Mexican television actresses Transgender female models LGBT media personalities Transgender female adult models Transgender pornographic film actresses Mexican expatriates in the United States Suicides by hanging in Mexico LGBT-related suicides Suicides in Mexico

Life and career

Personal life and death

Filmography

See also

References

External links