Rosie Mercado
Mercado before weight loss
Born (1980-03-28) March 28, 1980
Los Angeles, California, United States
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of Nevada, Las Vegas
Tony Robbins Mastery University
Occupation(s)Lifestyle coach Model, Fashion Designer, Actress, Radio and Television Personality
Years active2009–present
Children4
Modeling information
Height5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Hair colorBrown
Eye colorBrown
Websitewww.rosiemercado.com

Rosie Mercado (born March 28, 1980) is an American plus-size model, celebrity makeup artist, fashion designer and television personality of Mexican descent. She is best known for starring in reality television show Curvy Girls on NuvoTV and featuring on National Geographic Channel's Taboo. She is currently a special correspondent and life coach on the TV shows The Doctors and Dr. Phil and a co-host on the entertainment talk show Face The Truth.

Early life

Mercado was born in Los Angeles, California and grew up in Riverside, California[1] but she spent most of her life in Las Vegas, Nevada[2] when her parents moved their business there.[3]

Mercado is of Latino descent;[2] her parents are from Mexico in Guadalajara and Zacatecas.[4] Her parents have a business in Las Vegas and she comes from an entrepreneurial background.[4] Mercado credits her father as "a visionary in all the businesses he has created".[5] Mercado's parents have always has been supportive of her in life and her career.[4][5]

She attended Bishop Gorman High School and left in 1999. She was one of five Latinos who attended the private school.[6] In high school, she was a 'tomboy'[7] and felt that she did not fit in because of her size (which has driven her to promote plus-size diversity in the entertainment industry).[5] She was called "a big girl with a pretty face"[7] or "the girl with the pretty face and the big ass",[1] and was bullied because of her weight.[7] Mercado studied Business Management at University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Since she was young, Mercado had the desire to make it in the fashion industry, but she had insecurities primarily fueled by her weight issues.[2] She admired Jennifer Lopez and Queen Latifah.[5]

Modeling career

Mercado broke into the fashion industry within four years.[2] She started off in modeling as a photographer; she was trying to build her business but didn't have the money to hire professional models. A celebrity photographer told her that she had a beautiful face and that she should be modeling.[4] She had taken pictures of herself but was often rejected because of her size.[3] Many times fashion industry people liked her face in her portfolio but balked after seeing her in person due to her size, and told her that if she lost weight she would have more work.[1]

Media career

Mercado started working at the age of 15, Mercado was a radio personality in Las Vegas as an early morning host. She went on to work for Telemundo and Univision doing red carpet interviews with high-profile Latino celebrities.[3][8] She did voiceover work for English and Spanish national and international commercials.[2]

In 2011, Mercado featured on National Geographic Channel's Taboo.[5] She has appeared on National and International Television, From Telemundo and Univision and is a special correspondent with the shows Dr. Phil and The Doctors on CBS. She is considered one of the top 6 influential Latinas to follow by Latina Magazine and Univsion. In 2012 and 2013, she starred in season one and two of NuvoTV's reality television show Curvy Girls which captured the daily life of four plus-size models as they realized their dreams in the fashion world.[2][9] In June 2013, she was a special guest on The Ricki Lake Show, speaking about plus-size swim fashions.[10] She is a co-host on a talk show produced by Dr.Phil called Face The Truth on CBS and has her book coming out in 2019 with publishing company Harper Collins One.

Makeup and fashion design

Mercado turned her makeup skills into a career.[1][7] She was a celebrity makeup artist who worked in magazines, TV and film. She also took her designing skills and launched her first collection of dresses in 2013 celebrating the beauty of plus size women around the world.

Weight

After letting her weight increase to well over 400 pounds,[11] Mercado managed to start losing weight to deal with mobility issues and embarrassment as she became larger and larger.[9][11] She was chosen to be the face of Full Figured Fashion Week in 2010 still weighing over 350 pounds.[1] By 2012, she had gotten her weight down to 178 pounds. Though once a size 32/34 at her biggest, she is currently a size 12, and now advocates that it is unhealthy for other women to be overweight.[8] In August 2017 Mercado implied to US weekly that she is currently about 160 pounds.[12]

Personal life

Mercado lives in Las Vegas, Nevada and Los Angeles, California. She is a single mom of three children,[4] a daughter (born 2000) and two sons (born 2006 and 2007).[3]

In 2013, Mercado graduated from Tony Robbins Mastery University.[5] She promotes body diversity and is now a lifestyle coach that inspires women to embrace their authentic beauty and self love and acceptance, and her and her husband had a son in March 2020.[13]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Alimurung, Gendy (March 18, 2012). "Rosie Mercado: That Face". LA Weekly. Los Angeles. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Matthews, Philippe. "Rosie Mercado Is Curvalicious!". The Philippe Matthews Show. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Matthews, Philippe (October 31, 2012). "Rosie Mercado Is Curvalicious!". The PM Show. BlogTalkRadio. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Jara, Jose (March 7, 2013). "LatinoScoop.com chats with Curvy Girls – Rosie Mercado!". LatinScoop.com. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Hall, Debbie (February 22, 2013). "Fearless Females: Rosie Mercado". Las Vegas: Las Vegas Woman Magazine. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  6. ↑ Cruz, Marcy (July 18, 2013). "Size Discrimination Exposed in Hakkasan Nightclub in Vegas: No "Whales or Hippos" Allowed". PLUS Model Magazine. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Charles, Jr., Larry (July 15, 2013). "Everything's Coming Up Rosie – A one on one interview with rising star Rosie Mercado". Resist Magazine. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  8. 1 2 Alimurung, Gendy (August 1, 2011). "The Talented Ms. Rosie Mercado". Daily Venus Diva. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  9. 1 2 Rudd, Tia D. (June 2013). "Finding My Fuerza". Plus Model Magazine. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Rosie Mercado Talks Swim on The Ricki Lake Show". PLUS Model Magazine. May 22, 2013. Archived from the original on August 9, 2014. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  11. 1 2 http://www.people.com/article/rosie-mercado-lost-210-lbs-after-being-told-wouldnt-fit-in-plane-seat" Archived 2015-11-09 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ↑ "The Life-Changing Moment That Helped TV Host Rosie Mercado Lose 240 Pounds". Us Weekly.
  13. ↑ Moreno, Leah; Shapiro, Rose (September 13, 2012). "Women To Know: Rosie Mercado, Susana Martinez & More". feminspire. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
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