Eva Marcille

Eva Marcille Pigford (formerly Sterling; born October 30, 1984) is an American actress, fashion model and television personality. She rose to prominence after she won the third cycle of America's Next Top Model. Afterwards, she starred as Tracie Evans in Tyler Perry's House of Payne (2007–2012), and Tyra Hamilton on the CBS daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless (2008–2009).

Marcille later returned to reality television as a cast member on the Bravo television series The Real Housewives of Atlanta (2018–2021). She currently plays the lead role of Marilyn "Madam" DeVille in the BET+ television series All the Queen's Men (2021–present).

Early life Marcille was born in Los Angeles, California as Eva Marcille Pigford. Her middle name, Marcille, is an amalgam of her grandmothers' names "Marjorie" and "Lucille". Her parents are both African American. She attended Raymond Avenue Elementary School, Marina Del Rey Middle School, and Washington Preparatory High School (2002). She attended Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta, Georgia; however, she left the school shortly after winning the third season of America's Next Top Model at the age of 19.

Career

Modeling In 2004, Pigford became the final contestant selected for the top fourteen to compete on the UPN reality television show America's Next Top Model Cycle 3 Over her stay, Pigford received two first call-outs and won two challenges. She had two consecutive bottom two appearances where she survived both over Ann Markley and Amanda Swafford. In the end, Pigford was crowned the winner of the cycle three, beating out runner-up Yaya DaCosta, and becoming the first Black contestant to win the series. She was granted a CoverGirl cosmetics contract, a spread in Elle Magazine, and a modeling contract with Ford Models.

After eventual Cycle 17: All Stars contestant, Bre Scullark, was eliminated, Pigford appeared in the season finale of Cycle 5 alongside Cycle 4 Winner, Naima Mora to participate in the final runway show with the final two, Nik Pace and Nicole Linkletter.

Pigford appeared in a Top Models in Action segment during an episode of Cycle 12.

In February 2005, Marcille walked in New York Fashion Week for South African designer Marc Bouwer's Fall 2005 collection. In October, she walked in Los Angeles Fashion Week in the Spring 2006 collections for NAQADA and Deborah Lindquist. In March 2007, she once again walked in the Fall 2007 Los Angeles Fashion Week show, wearing Monarchy Collection.

Marcille has appeared on the covers of Women's Health and Fitness (May 2005), King (June 2005), Essence (July 2005, "The Evolution of Eva"), IONA (November 2005), Brides Noir (September 2006, "The Garden of Eva"), Black Girls Rule! (Spring 2007), Gabriel's The Magazine (May/June 2007), The Green Golf Beyond the Link (2008), Obvious (2010), Urban Lux (March/April 2011), Kontrol (Fall/Winter 2011), Sheen (January 2016, "Living Life Fearlessly), Rolling Out (January 2017), Upscale (April 2018), and The B Collective Magazine (2018).

In addition to having fashion and editorial spreads in In Touch Weekly (January 2005, "What's in, what's out"; April 2007, "In their closets"), We The Urban (May 2005) Hype Hair (June 2005; December 2016; August 2017, "Eva Marcille"), Elle (July 2005), Elle Girl (2005 editorial collaboration with DKNY Jeans), Jewel (October 2006), Essence (2007, "Eye Openers"; August 2009, "We Dare You To"), Vibe Vixen (June 2011), and Today's Black Woman (May 2014, "All About Eva"), she's modeled in advertisements and campaigns for CoverGirl, DKNY Jeans, Samsung, red by Marc Ecko, UNleashed, Apple Bottoms, Lerner, and Avon.

On November 15, 2006, Marcille left her managers Benny Medina and Tyra Banks, and officially dropped changed her name from 'Eva Pigford' to Eva Marcille (swapping her surname for her middle name). She has stated she did this in order to not use her modeling fame to get into acting but earn her acting roles.

Television work In 2005, Marcille guest starred in the "Cardiac Episode" and "Through the Looking Glass" episodes of the UPN legal drama series, Kevin Hill, as Sandra Clark. In August, she took part in the fifth episode of the debut season of MTV's sketch comedy, Nick Cannon Presents Wild 'N Out along with T.I.

From 2006 to 2007, she hosted the BET J reality show My Model Looks Better Than Your Model. In May 2006, she appeared in the Fox Television Studios produced, The Wedding Album, portraying the role of Gretchen, the sassy roommate of Tara Summers' character, Milla. In September, she acted as Vanessa in her first major film Crossover, where she acted alongside Anthony Mackie and Wayne Brady.

In 2007, she guest starred in two of The CW's series, her first being the comedy drama, The Game, where she played a dramatized version of herself in the "Out of Bounds" episode, and the second being the superhero series Smallville, where she played Tyler Crenshaw, a villainous beauty queen, in the episode, "Fierce". The same year, she would haves roles in the Chris Rock-led romantic comedy I Think I Love My Wife, as Hope, and the "Everybody Hates Minimum Wage" episode of Everybody Hates Chris as Ms. Crabtree. After a few months, her character, who was planned to be temporary was made permanent, appearing in 72 episodes overall. In 2009, Marcille was nominated for two NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series for her Y&R role. In June 2009, she participated in the BET prank show Played by Fame, where contestants have nightmarish dates with celebrities.

Furthermore, she has appeared in several music videos, including "Baby" by Angie Stone (featuring Betty Wright), 50 Cent's "I Get Money" and Jamie Foxx's "DJ Play a Love Song".

In 2011, she hosted the second season of the Oxygen reality competition series, Hair Battle Spectacular. In August 2013, Marcille appeared in the video clip "J'accélère (I accelerate)" by French rapper Rohff. On August 5, 2015, Marcille began appearing in the TV One series Born Again Virgin as the role of Tara.

In February 2016, she was in a reality series titled About the Business. In August 2017, Marcille competed in the first season of VH1's Scared Famous, which premiered on October 23, 2017. In November, she began appearing on the Bravo reality show, The Real Housewives of Atlanta, in a recurring capacity as a friend of NeNe Leakes. The following year, she was promoted to being a full-time cast member for the eleventh season. She remained a main cast member until her departure in 2020.

In June 2021, BET+ began streaming the Tyler Perry directed drama series, All The Queen's Men, starring Marcille as Marilyn "Madam" DeVille.

Personal life In July 2006, Marcille began dating actor Lance Gross. The couple became engaged on December 24, 2008, but later broke up in March 2010. She dated rapper Flo Rida from 2010 to 2012.

In early February 2014, Marcille gave birth to her first daughter with singer Kevin McCall. She and McCall split in spring 2014, with Marcille stating she has custody of their daughter. In August 2019, she revealed that her daughter's last name had been legally changed from McCall to Sterling (surname of her then-husband, Michael Sterling).

In December 2017, Marcille became engaged to Atlanta-based attorney Michael Sterling. The two married on October 7, 2018. Together, they have two sons, born in April 2018 and September 2019. In 2019, she also founded cEVAd, a CBD oil company. The company launched during the birth of her son Maverick. In March 2023, Eva filed for divorce from Sterling. On August 3, 2023, their divorce was finalized. They began reconnecting publicly in July 2025 and have since confirmed their reconciliation with posts about being "Forever Sterlings."

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 2005 The Walk Sydney Lee Video; as Eva Pigford 2006 Premium Farrah as Eva Pigford Crossover Vanessa as Eva Pigford The Wedding Album Gretchen Fox Network Pilot 2007 I Think I Love My Wife Hope as Eva Pigford 2009 Super Capers News Reporter 2011 The Boys and Girls Guide to Getting Down Jasmine as Eva Pigford 2012 If You Really Love Me Fraan GMC TV Original Movie Note to Self Karen Wells as Eva Pigford 2013 24 Hour Love Leah 2014 For the Love of LockwoodMarla PetersTV One Original Movie 2015 For the Love of Lockwood TooTV One Original Movie Sister Code Sheila 2017 The Cheaters Club Olive Miss Me This Christmas Trish McDonald 2021 Adventures in Christmasing Taylor VH1 Original Movie 2022 Hello Alicia Gregory BET Original Movie A New Diva's Christmas CarolZeroVH1 Original Movie A Christmas Fumble Nicole Barnes Streaming Movie 2024 Buried Alive & SurvivedAliciaLifetime Original Movie 2025 Noah's Arc: The Movie Marley Streaming Movie 2026 Pushed off a Plane and Survived Jaynie Lifetime Original Movie

Television Year Title Role Notes 2004 America's Next Top Model Herself/Contestant Cycle 3 Winner 2005 Best Week Ever Herself Episode: "Michael Jackson trial, the OC and More" Wild 'n Out Herself 2 episodes Kevin Hill Sandra Clark 2 episodes; as Eva Pigford 2007 The Hills Herself Episode: "When You Least Expect It" The Game Eva Marcille Episode: "Out of Bounds" Smallville Tyler Crenshaw Episode: "Fierce" Everybody Hates Chris Ms. Crabtree Episode: "Everybody Hates Minimum Wage" 2007–12 Tyler Perry's House of Payne Tracie Evans Recurring cast: Seasons 1–2, 5–7 & 10 2008–09 The Young and the Restless Tyra Hamilton Regular role 2009 The Assistants Alicia James Episode: "The Break Up" 2011 Let's Stay Together Raynelle Episode: "Your Arm's Too Short to Box with Grandparents"; as Eva Pigford 2012 Girlfriend Confidential: LA Herself Main cast 2013–15 Real Husbands of Hollywood Eva Marcille 4 episodes 2015–16 Born Again Virgin Tara Main cast 2017 Scared Famous Herself/Contestant Main cast 2018–21 The Real Housewives of Atlanta Herself Recurring cast: Season 10 Main cast: Seasons 11–12 Guest: Season 13 2021–present All the Queen's Men Marilyn 'Madam' DeVille Lead role 2022–24 The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip Herself Main cast: Seasons 2 & 5

Music Videos Year Song Artist 2006 "DJ Play a Love Song" Jamie Foxx 2012 "Best of Me" Tyrese 2013 "Live It Up" Jennifer Lopez "J'accélère" Rohff