Natália Aparecida Guimarães (born 25 December 1984 in

Juiz de Fora Juiz de Fora (; ), also known as J.F., is a city in the southeastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, approximately from the state border with Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro. According to the 2022 census the current population is 54 ...

) is a Brazilian actress, tv host, model and beauty pageant titleholder who won the title of Miss Brasil 2007 and represented her country at

Miss Universe 2007 Miss Universe 2007 was the 56th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City, Mexico on 28 May 2007. At the end of the event, Zuleyka Rivera of Puerto Rico crowned Riyo Mori of Japan as Miss Universe 2007. It was Japan ...

where she placed 1st Runner-up.

Early life

Due to being born on

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

, ''natal'' in Portuguese, Guimarães' parents named her Natália. According to her parents, the choice of her second name is a tribute to

Our Lady of Aparecida Our Lady Aparecida ("Our Lady, the Appeared"), ( or ''Nossa Senhora da Conceição Aparecida'') is a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary associated with the Immaculate Conception. Her image, a dark clay statue, is widely venerated by Brazilian Cat ...

. She took a package of medals of the saint and use one of its as

amulet An amulet, also known as a good luck charm or phylactery, is an object believed to confer protection upon its possessor. The word "amulet" comes from the Latin word , which Pliny's ''Natural History'' describes as "an object that protects a perso ...

competition activities and telecast program. Natália was born with six fingers on her hands. She inherited a genetic characteristic called

polydactyly Polydactyly is a birth defect that results in extra fingers or toes. The hands are more commonly involved than the feet. Extra fingers may be painful, affect self-esteem, or result in clumsiness. It is associated with at least 39 genetic mut ...

from her father, a congenital physical anomaly in humans; these supernumerary fingers or toes do not cause any problems to the carriers. The characteristic was discovered by media reports. Prior to her current career, Natália had an audition for actress in

Rede Globo TV Globo (stylized as tvglobo; , ), formerly known as Rede Globo de Televisão (; shortened to Rede Globo) or simply known as Globo, is a Brazilian free-to-air television network, launched by media proprietor Roberto Marinho on 26 April 1965 ...

's telenovela ''Estrela Guia'', but her father forbade it in favor of modeling activities. Guimarães enrolled on the PUC-MG to study architecture, leaving after six semesters to focus on her pageants.

Pageantry

Guimarães, who began her modeling career at 15 years old and previously worked for

Ford Models Ford Models, originally the Ford Modeling Agency, is an American international modeling agency based in New York City. It was established in 1946 by Eileen Ford and her husband Gerard W. Ford. History 20th century Eileen and Jerry began the bu ...

, also won the 2006

Top Model of the World The Top Model of the World is an international search for the ultimate model. The event started in 1993 in Miami, organised by the Globana Group.Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

assumed the title.

Miss Brasil 2007

Guimarães represented the state of

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...

at Miss Brasil 2007 where she beat out 26 other contestants from the

states State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

and the

Federal District A federal district is a specific administrative division in one of various federations. These districts may be under the direct jurisdiction of a federation's national government, as in the case of federal territory (e.g., India, Malaysia), or the ...

of Brazil, gaining the right to represent her country at Miss Universe 2007.

Miss Universe 2007

On 28 May 2007, Natália represented

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

held in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

, Mexico where she vied to succeed

Zuleyka Rivera Zuleyka Jerrís Rivera Mendoza (born October 3, 1987) is a Puerto Rican actress, TV host, dancer, model, and beauty queen who won Miss Universe 2006 in Los Angeles. She was previously crowned Miss Puerto Rico Universe 2006. She made her debu ...

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

and eventually finished as 1st Runner-Up to

Riyo Mori (born December 24, 1986) is a Japanese actress, dancer, model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Universe 2007 in Mexico City. Personal life An only child, Riyo Mori began dancing at the age of 4. She studied at Quinte Ballet School and gra ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. The day after the Miss Universe competition, a Mexican television show asked the public who should have won the pageant. Guimarães won this poll with almost a third of the votes.

Life after Miss Universe

On 13 July, Natália attended the opening ceremony of the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

in Rio de Janeiro with Brazilian delegation and held the national flag at the occasion. The Miss Brasil titleholder also participated of reality TV ''Dança no Gelo'' ("Ice Dance", an

ice skating Ice skating is the Human-powered transport, self-propulsion and gliding of a person across an ice surface, using metal-bladed ice skates. People skate for various reasons, including recreation (fun), exercise, competitive sports, and commuting. ...

version of ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...

'') on TV show ''

Domingão do Faustão ''Domingão do Faustão'' ( literally ''Big Fausto's Big Sunday'') was a Brazilian TV show aired every Sunday from 1989 to 2021. Produced by Rede Globo and hosted by Fausto Silva (also known as Faustão), it featured live music performances (usu ...

''. Natália also recorded a special guest appearance at soap opera from

Rede Bandeirantes Rede Bandeirantes (, ''Bandeirantes Network''), or simply known as Band (), is a Brazilian free-to-air television network. It began broadcasting on May 13, 1967 on VHF channel 13 in São Paulo. Its founder was businessman :pt:João Saad, Jo ...

, Dance Dance Dance. The episode with the beauty queen was broadcast on 12 November 2007 in

and USA (locally by Band Internacional). She was also invited to be a

Victoria's Secret Victoria's Secret is an American lingerie, clothing and beauty products, beauty retailer. Founded in 1977 by a Stanford graduate student and his wife, Roy Raymond, Roy and Gaye Raymond, the company's five lingerie stores were sold to Les Wexner i ...

model. In February 2008, Natália appeared as the Queen for

samba school A samba school () is a dancing, marching, and drumming (Samba Enredo) club. They practice and often perform in a huge square-Compound (enclosure), compounds ("quadras de samba") and are devoted to practicing and exhibiting samba, an Afro-Brazili ...

Unidos de Vila Isabel in the

Carnival parade Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that occurs at the close of the Christian pre-Lenten period, consisting of Quinquagesima or Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday, and Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras. Carnival typi ...

in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Later, she garnered a first important role in a telenovela, as Ariadne in ''

Caminhos do Coração ''Caminhos do Coração'' () is a Brazilian telenovela aired on Rede Record. Created by Tiago Santiago and directed by Alexandre Avancini, it was replaced by a spin-off called '' Os Mutantes: Caminhos do Coração'', airing since June 3, 2008. P ...

'' and in its sequel, '' Os Mutantes: Caminhos do Coração'', both aired on

Rede Record Record (stylized in uppercase; ), formerly known as Rede Record and RecordTV, is a Brazilian free-to-air television network. It is currently the second largest commercial TV station in Brazil, and the 28th largest in the 2012 world ranking. In ...

. In 2009, Natália portrayed a minor role in ''

Bela, a Feia ''Bela, a Feia'' (Ugly Bela) is a Brazilian telenovela originally aired on Rede Record from August 4, 2009, to June 2, 2010. A co-production with Televisa, it was based on the Colombian telenovela ''Yo soy Betty, la fea'', as well as the American ...

'', Record-

Televisa Grupo Televisa, S.A.B., simply known as Televisa, is a Mexican telecommunications and broadcasting company. A major Latin American mass media corporation, it often presents itself as the largest producer of Spanish-language content. In April ...

partnership Brazilian version based upon Mexican '' La Fea Mas Bella''. On this telenovela, Natália's character was found dead on a beach. Since January 2010, Natália is host of

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte is the List of largest cities in Brazil, sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population of around 2.3 million, and the third largest metropolitan area, containing a population of 6 million. It is the List of cities in Sout ...

's segment of national morning newsmagazine ''Hoje em Dia''. Due to this, she started studying journalism at

Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais The Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais (, PUC-MG) is a private and non-profit Brazilian Roman Catholic Church, Catholic university in Belo Horizonte, state of Minas Gerais. In 2006, 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2014, PUC-MG was chosen the be ...

, graduating in 2015. On 8 August 2013, Guimarães and longtime boyfriend Leandro Scornavacca of

KLB KLB is a pop band from Brazil. The band consists of three brothers from São Paulo: Kiko (Franco Finato Scornavacca), Leandro Finato Scornavacca and Bruno Finato Scornavacca. KLB stands for each brother's name. Music career The brothers began ...

fame welcomed twin daughters Maya and Kiara.

Television acts and works

Pageantry winnings and placements

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guimaraes, Natalia Actresses from Juiz de Fora Living people 1984 births Miss Brazil winners Miss Universe 2007 contestants Brazilian female models Brazilian telenovela actresses Brazilian television presenters Models from Juiz de Fora Top Model of the World winners Brazilian beauty pageant winners Brazilian women television presenters