Vanessa was born on November 9, 1980 in Clark Air Force Base in Angeles City, Pampanga, Philippines. Her father, Vince, is an American of Italian and Irish descent. Her mother, Helen Berecero, is a Filipina from the province of Pampanga and Leyte. Vince met Vanessa's mother while based in the Philippines. She has an adopted brother, Vincent, who is two years older.
As a child, Vanessa's family moved numerous times due to her father's work in the United States Air Force, including living in Washington, California, Nevada, Florida, Germany and Japan and placing her in eight different schools within nine years. Vanessa's parents separated in 1983, divorced in 1986.
Subsequent to Helen's remarriage to a United States Air Force serviceman, Vanessa and her brother moved to Turkey with their mother and stepfather. By 1990, as a result of Desert Shield, she and her brother returned to their father's home, eventually settling in Charleston, South Carolina where she attended Bishop England High School and was a cheerleader.
Vanessa is fluent in English and has passing knowledge of two languages spoken in the Philipines: Kapampangan and Tagalog. She has a close relationship with stepmother, Donna Minnillo, and brother Vincent, but is estranged from her mother.
In October 1997, as a junior in high school, she entered her first pageant. "I told her to go for it, but I didn't think she had a snowball's chance in you-know-what," brother Vince tells hometown paper the Post and Courier. "She's a pretty kid, but the chances of winning those things are pretty slim." Vanessa took her first crown as Miss South Carolina Teen USA 1997. On August 17, 1998, Vanessa, then 17, beats 50 other contestants when she was crowned Miss Teen USA in Shreveport, Louisiana. She received more than $150,000 in cash and prizes, and was also named Miss Congeniality by her peers. When asked, during the competition's Q&A section, if she would take a pill that would keep her young forever, Minnillo replies: "Yes. I'm having the time of my life and I'd like to remain this age forever."
In 2001,. after moving to L.A. at 19, Vanessa swears that she will never work on a soap or be a host. But her first job is a recurring role on the CBS soap, The Bold and the Beautiful. That same year, Minnillo cohosts the pilot Top of the Pops, based on the UK's long-running live-music series, and becomes one of three finalists in E!'s competition to host the network's travel series, Wild On.
In 2003, Vanessa started hosting MTV's summer-long series The Morning After, which helped her ink a deal in September with the network. As the latest VJ, she appeared on the daily countdown show Total Request Live, MTV News, and other shows in development.
Now, she's one of the most recognizable people in the entertainment industry.
