Yoanna House (born April 9, 1980 in
Jacksonville, Florida) is an American
fashion model and television host, best known as the winner of
Cycle 2 of
America's Next Top Model.
Early life
House was born and raised in
Jacksonville, Florida. House's father, a physician, is from Canada and her mother is from Mexico.
[ Biography via IMG Models IMG Models website. Last accessed 9 December 2006.] From early childhood, House showed great interest in
fashion, which she claims was spurred by her grandmother, saying:
"I was always in her closet. We would watch TV, read magazines, go to the mall. She taught me about couture and how important it was. A lot of my appreciation came from her." [Interview with GirlPosse.com Girlposse.com. Last accessed 30 August 2006]
After graduating from Bishop Kenny High School in 1998, House attended the
University of North Florida, majoring in international relations and Asian studies. House speaks fluent Japanese as well as Spanish, which she spoke from a young age
Around this time, House also began to pursue a career in fashion modeling, but claimed she found her options limited because she was overweight. She says she eventually lost 45 pounds after changing her diet and adopting an exercise plan.
[ "Yoanna Be A Model?" 48 Hours story. Last accessed on 30 August 2006.]
House is married and has a Son, Alastair born in August 2008. She lives in New York City with her family.
Career
Yoanna was the winner of Cycle 2 of
America's Next Top Model.
After
Top Model, she signed with
IMG Models. House made her debut as a runway model at the
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in 2004, walking for
fashion designers Petro Zillia, Custo Barcelona, Sue Wong, and John Sakalis.
[Fashion Feature: Yoanna House Metrofashion.com. Last accessed 30 August 2006.] Her most visible modeling assignments immediately after her win include a commercial for the
Declare Yourself voting campaign and a cover story for
Psychology Today magazine.
[IMG Speaker Yoanna House IMG Speakers Bureau. Last accessed 30 August 2006 ]["Fast Track to Fame: Yoanna House" Interview with Psychology Today. Last accessed 9 December 2006] She became host of
The Look for Less in 2005, replacing
Elisabeth Hasselbeck.
The following year, House was named "the face" of
The CW network,
["Top Model will be new CW Face" TV.com story. Last accessed 30 August 2006.] appearing in commercials and web advertisements for the fledgling network. In overseas projects, she signed with Danish modeling agency 1st Opinion Model Management
[Profile on 1st Option 1st Option website. Last accessed December 25, 2006] and won a contract with Careline, an
Israeli cosmetics company.
She appeared in a commercial for make-up brand Sheer Cover,
Leeza Gibbons's make-up line, along with
Cycle 4 winner of
America's Next Top Model Naima Mora.
In the Summer of 2008, Yoanna hosted The N's reality series
Queen Bees, which attempts to reforms mean girls
[Shows | The N — Queen Bees]. She has also filmed a PSA for Declare Yourself, parodying a lipstick commercial
[www.declareyourself.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6&Itemid=3&video=1395].
