Vanessa Lachey

Vanessa Joy Lachey (; born November 9, 1980) is a Filipino-American model and actress. She was named Miss Teen USA in 1998. She has been a New York–based correspondent for Entertainment Tonight and hosted Total Request Live on MTV. She has starred in two network sitcoms and hosted various competition and reality shows. Lachey portrayed the lead role in the CBS crime drama television series NCIS: Hawaiʻi (2021–2024) for three seasons.

Early life Vanessa Joy Minnillo was born at the 13th Air Force Regional Medical Center at Clark Air Base in Angeles City, Philippines. Her father, Vincent Charles Minnillo, is an American citizen who was born in Cleveland, Ohio, while her mother, Helen Ramos Bercero, was born in Manila, Philippines. Minnillo has an adopted brother who is two years older. Her family moved frequently because of her father's service in the Air Force. She lived in Washington, California, Nevada, Florida, Germany, and Japan and attended eleven schools in nine years. Minnillo's parents separated in 1983 and divorced in 1986. Her mother left the family when Vanessa was 9 years old.

Minnillo's parents both remarried. She and her brother Vincent Jr. relocated to Turkey with their mother and stepfather. By 1991, in the wake of Operation Desert Shield, they returned to their father's home, eventually settling in Charleston, South Carolina, where Minnillo attended the Roman Catholic Bishop England High School. From then on, she lived with her father and stepmother, Donna. She has said she had "a very rocky, challenging, and tumultuous childhood." and became a New York City correspondent for Entertainment Tonight in 2005. She hosted Miss Teen USA 2004 and Miss Universe 2007 beauty pageants.

After leaving MTV and Entertainment Tonight, Lachey was featured in print and web-based advertising for Bongo Jeans' Spring/Summer 2007 collection. She launched a makeup line with Flirt! Cosmetics, which debuted in August 2007 at Kohl's department stores. In May 2006, Maxim magazine ranked Lachey #15 in its annual Hot 100 issue. She has been featured on the covers of numerous magazines, including Maxim, Parents, and People.

Lachey was a finalist in E!'s competition to replace Brooke Burke as host of Wild On!. Lachey became a co-host of ABC's game show Wipeout in December 2011.

Early in her career, Lachey had small roles in numerous television shows, including That's Life, City Girls, 30 Rock, The Bold and the Beautiful, Psych, Hawaii Five-O and Maybe It's Me. In 2008, she portrayed Ashlee in the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, in the episode "No Tomorrow". She portrayed Amy in the parody film Disaster Movie (2008) alongside Matt Lanter, Kim Kardashian, and Carmen Electra. The film was panned by critics, but was a moderate box-office success, grossing nearly $35 million against a $20 million budget. In 2009, Lachey and Kardashian acted together again, on CBS's police procedural television series CSI: NY.

In 2011, Lachey had a guest role as Carmen Chao in NBC's sitcom 30 Rock. She played Tracy in NBC's sitcom Truth Be Told (2015), about two diverse multiracial couples who are best friends, lovers and neighbors. The series ended after one season on December 25, 2015. On September 6, 2017, Lachey was announced as one of the celebrities who would take part in the 25th season of Dancing with the Stars, competing against her husband, Nick. She was paired with professional dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy, and Chmerkovskiy's wife, Peta Murgatroyd, was paired with Nick. On October 30, Lachey and Chmerkovskiy became the seventh couple eliminated from the competition, finishing in joint seventh place.

In 2020, Lachey and her husband Nick were announced as the hosts of the Netflix series Love Is Blind. Lachey stated that the show "made literally our dreams come true in terms of being able to work together, being able to spend time together, making our marriage stronger ultimately in the end." The couple has hosted every season of the show announced to date.

2021–present: NCIS: Hawaii and first book On April 30, 2021, it was announced that Lachey was cast as a series regular in CBS's police procedural TV series NCIS: Hawaii. Lachey joined the cast in her first leading series role as Jane Tennant, the first female Special Agent in charge of the NCIS: Pearl. Her role also marked the NCIS franchise's first female lead. It is a spin-off of the long-running series NCIS, and the fourth series in the NCIS franchise. Filming for the series began on the North Shore of Oahu on June 16, 2021. The series debuted on September 20, 2021, and was canceled in April 2024. The final episode aired on May 6, 2024. Co-written with Dina Gachman, the book includes recipes, parenting tips, birthday rituals, date night ideas, and personal stories.

In 2023, she appeared in General Motors' and Netflix's Super Bowl commercial to promote electric vehicles. She was included in Variety 's "40 Most Powerful Women on Reality TV in 2023" list.

Personal life

In 2006, she began dating singer Nick Lachey after appearing in the video for his song "What's Left of Me". The couple became engaged in November 2010, and married on July 15, 2011, at Sir Richard Branson's private Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands. They were both born on November 9, seven years apart. They have three children, two sons born in September 2012 and December 2016, and one daughter born in January 2015. Their eldest son was born during the production of the fifth season of Wipeout.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 2007 Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer Johnny's Wedding Date

Television Year Title Role Notes 2001 The Bold and the Beautiful Amanda Wexler Regular Cast City Guys Hot Girl Episode: "Dances with Malcolm" That's Life Cheerleader Episode: "Oh, Crap!" 2002 Maybe It's Me Sexy Student Episode: "The Prom Episode: Part 2" 2008 How I Met Your Mother Ashlee Episode: "No Tomorrow" 2009 CSI: NY Grace Chandler Episode: "Second Chances" 2010 Psych Gina Episode: "Shawn and Gus in Drag (Racing)" 2011 30 Rock Carmen Chao Episode: "¡Qué Sorpresa!" Hawaii Five-0 Susan Episode: "Powa Maka Moana" Nick & Vanessa's Dream Wedding Herself TLC television special; also as executive producer 2013–14 Dads Camilla Main Cast 2015 Lachey's: Raising the Bar Herself Main Cast Truth Be Told Tracy Cooper Main Cast 2017 Dancing with the Stars Herself/Contestant Contestant: season 25 2019 American Housewife Crissy Episode: "Liar Liar, Room on Fire" BH90210 Camille Recurring Cast 2021 Call Me Kat Tara Barnett Recurring Cast: Season 1 2021–24 NCIS: Hawaiʻi Jane Tennant Main Cast 2022–24 NCIS Jane Tennant Guest: Season 19 & 21, Recurring Cast: Season 20 2023 NCIS: Los Angeles Jane Tennant Episode: "A Long Time Coming" 2025 Krapopolis Tia Who Smiles (voices) Episode: “Love Trap, Baby!”

Music video Year Title Artist Role 2006 "What's Left of Me" Nick Lachey Love Interest

As a television personality or host

Awards and nominations (shared with Stonyfield Organic)

Published works

Lachey, Vanessa: Life from Scratch: Family Traditions That Start with You, HarperCollins, 2021.