Raquel Roxanne "Rocsi" Diaz (born November 17, 1981, also known simply as Rocsi) is a Honduran-born American television host, radio personality, model and actress. She is best known from her time spent as a co-host on BET’s music video countdown program ''

106 & Park ''106 & Park'' is an American hip hop and R&B music video show, set up in a countdown format, that was broadcast on weekdays at 6:00 pm ET/5:00 pm CT on BET; it aired on a one-day delay on BET International. It was the network's highest- rated ...

'' from 2006–2012. She was then a correspondent on ''

Entertainment Tonight ''Entertainment Tonight'' (or simply ''ET'') is an American Broadcast syndication, first-run syndicated news broadcasting news magazine, newsmagazine program that is distributed by CBS Media Ventures throughout the United States and owned by Par ...

'' from 2012–2014.

Early life

Diaz was born in

Tegucigalpa Tegucigalpa ( )—formally Tegucigalpa, Municipality of the Central District ( or ''Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.''), and colloquially referred to as ''Tegus'' or ''Teguz''—is the capital and largest city of Honduras along with its sister city, Comaya ...

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

, but moved with her family to

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. She is of Honduran and

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

an descent. Rocsi announced on

on July 30, 2009, that she suffered from

anorexia Anorexia nervosa (AN), often referred to simply as anorexia, is an eating disorder characterized by Calorie restriction, food restriction, body image disturbance, fear of gaining weight, and an overpowering desire to be thin. Individuals wit ...

during her middle and high school years. She was an avid cheerleader during those years, as well. She graduated from West Jefferson High School in Harvey, Louisiana.MacCash, Doug.
Back in town: Rocsi Diaz comes home to tape her hit BET show '106 & Park'
, ''

The Times-Picayune ''The Times-Picayune , The New Orleans Advocate'' (commonly called ''The Times-Picayune'' or the ''T-P'') is an American newspaper published in New Orleans, Louisiana. Ancestral publications of other names date back to January 25, 1837. The cu ...

'', 2007-07-06, p. 12. She graduated from

Nicholls State University Nicholls State University is a public university in Thibodaux, Louisiana. Founded in 1948, Nicholls is part of the University of Louisiana System. Originally named Francis T. Nicholls Junior College, the university is named for Francis T. Nichol ...

in nearby

Thibodaux, Louisiana Thibodaux ( ) is a city in and the parish seat of Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, United States, along the banks of Bayou Lafourche in the northwestern part of the parish. The population was 15,948 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Thib ...

Career

After growing up in New Orleans, she launched her career in Dallas, Texas, as a host on the city's premier urban radio station, 97.9 The Beat. At the station, Rocsi cultivated a unique, street-smart style that caught the attention of Boston's Hot 97.7, where she later became a DJ. In 2004, she moved to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

where she was hired as midday-hour DJ at radio station Power 92 WPWX-FM, and was known as "The Midday Mami".

Television

Diaz appeared on '' MTV's Fear'' as a contestant in 2000. BET personalities AJ Calloway and Free left the network on July 28, 2005. They were replaced by

Big Tigger Darian "Big Tigger" Morgan (born December 22, 1972), also known as Big Tigg, is an American television and radio personality, DJ and rapper best known as the host of BET's ''Rap City'' and '' 106 & Park''. Biography Morgan was born to a Jamaica ...

and Julissa Bermudez. They left and Rocsi joined on July 6, 2006, winning the role of co-host of BET's ''

'' along with Terrence J. The show can be seen in over 85 million homes in

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

, United Kingdom,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, Africa,

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

, and Japan.Coleman, Chrisena. "The Hottest 'Nerd' on TV: Star from Queens Seen by Millions Around the World", ''

New York Daily News The ''Daily News'' is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson in New York City as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in Tabloid (newspaper format ...

'', 2008-04-15. For the debut in Japan, she and co-host Terrence J taped footage there, and appeared on

MTV Video Music Awards Japan The MTV Video Music Awards Japan (MTV VMAJ for short) are the Japanese version of the MTV Video Music Awards. Like the MTV Video Music Awards in the United States, in this event artists are awarded for their songs and videos through online vo ...

. In 2007, Rocsi starred as a BET News correspondent in '' Def Jam: Icon'', but only appears in cutscenes on TV and not in fighting mode. On 19 November 2012, Diaz joined ''

'' as a daily correspondent and weekend co-host. In June 2014, Diaz was awarded a Daytime Emmy award as part of the cast for ''Outstanding Entertainment News Program''. On 17 September 2014, Diaz was let go from the show as CNN's Nischelle Turner was hired. In August 2013, she was recognised by the National Council of La Raza: Nuestro Pueblo. She received the Ruben Salazar Award for Communications. On 23 January 2015, Diaz announced she had been hired by

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

's HLN. She is the

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

contributor to their show ''The Daily Share'' that airs from 12–5 pm EST. In August 2015, she marked the ten year anniversary of

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

by returning home with cameras. She showed how her childhood street was bare of homes. Diaz serves as the host to the third season of '' Dating Naked'' on

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

replacing the original two-seasoned host Amy Paffrath. Diaz provided color commentary for

Cannonball A round shot (also called solid shot or simply ball) is a solid spherical projectile without explosive charge, launched from a gun. Its diameter is slightly less than the bore of the barrel from which it is shot. A round shot fired from a lar ...

on the

USA Network USA Network (or simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was launched in 1977 as Madison Square Garden Sports Network, one of the first national sports ...

alongside Mike “The Miz” Mizanin, who called the play-by-play. In 2021, she became the host of the new Fox reality singing competition ''

Alter Ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I") means an alternate Self (psychology), self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original Personality psychology, personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other ...

''.

Personal life

She is a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

since college and appeared in a

PETA People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA; ) is an American animal rights nonprofit organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president. Founded in March 1980 by Newkirk and animal right ...

ad campaign promoting the diet.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Diaz, Rocsi 1981 births Living people People from Tegucigalpa Mass media people from New Orleans African–Hispanic and Latino American relations American television hosts American women television hosts Honduran television hosts Honduran emigrants to the United States West Jefferson High School (Louisiana) alumni Nicholls State University alumni American people of Chilean descent Honduran people of Chilean descent American actresses of Honduran descent