Mariángel Ruiz

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Ruiz and the second or maternal family name is Torrealba.

Mariángel Ruiz Torrealba (born 7 January 1980) is a Venezuelan actress, tv host, singer, fashion model and beauty pageant titleholder. Winning Miss Venezuela 2002 as Miss Aragua, she then placed 1st runner-up at Miss Universe 2003.

Mariángel Ruiz
Ruiz in 2020
Born	Mariángel Ruiz Torrealba (1980-01-07) 7 January 1980 (age 45) San Juan de los Morros, Guárico, Venezuela
Occupation(s)	talk show hostess, solo singer
Spouse	Tony Álvarez ​ ​ (m. 2006; div. 2008)​
Children	1
Beauty pageant titleholder
Title	Miss Venezuela 2002
Years active	2002–present
Major competition(s)	Miss Venezuela 2002 (Winner) Miss Universe 2003 (1st Runner-Up)
Website	www.mariangelruiz.com.ve

Pageant career

Miss Venezuela 2002

Ruiz tried twice for the Miss Venezuela title, the first time in 1998 when she did not place in the top 120 candidates. In 2002, she won the preliminary casting in Maracay, becoming Miss Aragua 2002. Ruiz won the pageant, which for the first time was judged entirely by former Miss Venezuela titleholders.^[1]

Miss Universe 2003

One 9 May 2003, the Miss Venezuela Organization announced that Ruiz would not compete at Miss Universe.^[2] This was due to strict foreign exchange controls imposed by then-Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to prevent capital flight, which made the organization unable to send Ruiz to Panama. However, Venezuelan businessman Gustavo Cisneros provided funding for Ruiz to compete in Panama.^[3] Mireya Moscoso, then-President of Panama, had urged Cisneros to ensure that a Venezuelan candidate would compete at Miss Universe.^[4]

Work on TV

Ruiz has appeared on several TV shows of Venevisión. Her main credits include:

• Bailando con las Estrellas (2005), as Contestant
• Portada's (2005–present), as Hostess
• Cosita Rica (2003), as Alegria Mendez
• Que Locura (2003), as Guest Hostess
• La viuda joven (2011) as Inmaculada Von Parker
• Corazón Esmeralda (2014) as Marina Lozano / Graciela Beltrán

She has also done specials for the Miss Venezuela and Mister Venezuela pageants. In October 2005, she started filming the show Bailando con las Estrellas (Dancing with the Stars), which is similar to several other shows in other countries with the same format. Ruiz was threatened twice: she made it through on the first one, but on the second threat she got eliminated.

Personal life

She was born in San Juan de los Morros, Guárico. In December 2005, she announced her marriage and pregnancy to Major League Baseball center fielder Tony Álvarez. Their civil wedding was the same month, and their religious wedding was held on 28 January 2006. Ruiz gave birth to a girl named Mariángel Victoria, in August of the same year.^[5] The two divorced in 2008.

Publicity

Ruiz has worked with several companies to promote their products, those include:

• Pantene (2005)
• Lady Speed Stick (2004)
• Atun Margarita (2003)
• Mayonesa Kraft (2003)
• Calzados Lucchi (2002)

Modeling

In November 2008, Ruiz posed for the cover of the prestigious Venezuelan Urbe Bikini magazine.