Rita Rosina Verreos (born July 19, 1968) is a Venezuelan actress, model, television host and beauty pageant titleholder. She is most well-known for her participation in Miss Venezuela 1988 and for her appearance on the reality television show '' Survivor: Fiji''.

Personal life

A native of

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

, Verreos moved to

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

with her family when she was eight years old. Her father is of Greek descent, while her mother is of Panamanian descent. She attended

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

before graduating cum laude from the

University of California at Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the Ca ...

with a bachelor's degree in Italian and French Literature. She is a member of the Golden Key National Honor Society. After graduating from UCLA, she got married and moved to

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

to live with her husband and children for eleven years before moving to

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

in 2003. She and her husband divorced in 2004. She currently lives in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. Rita married actor and producer Carl Mergenthaler on June 8, 2014.

Pageants

Verreos was a contestant in the Miss Venezuela 1988 pageant while representing Municipio Vargas, and competed in the 1988 "Reinado Mundial de Banano" pageant in

Machala Machala () is a city in south-west Ecuador. It is the capital of the El Oro Province, and is located near the Gulf of Guayaquil on fertility (soil), fertile lowlands. Machala has a population of 288,072 (2022 census); it is the sixth-biggest city ...

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

, placing second to Ximena Correa of Ecuador. Verreos has also judged many pageants, including

Miss Oklahoma USA The Miss Oklahoma USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Oklahoma in the Miss USA pageant. This pageant is directed by Vanbros and Associates, headquartered in Shawnee, Kansas. In 1997, Oklahoma joined th ...

Miss Kansas USA The Miss Kansas USA pageant is a competition that selects the representative for the state of Kansas in the Miss USA pageant. The pageant is directed by Vanbros and Associates, headquartered in Lenexa, Kansas. In 1992, the state joined the Va ...

, Miss Hawaiian Tropic San Antonio, Miss, Teen & Mrs. International. She has also coached in many pageants including

Miss Texas The Miss Texas competition was founded in 1937 as a scholarship contest for young women. The winner represents Texas in the Miss America pageant; three winners have gone on to be crowned Miss America (but none since 1975). To become Miss Texa ...

Miss California The Miss California competition selects the representative for the state of California in the Miss America competition. The pageant began in Santa Cruz in 1924 and was held there in 1925. During the years 1926 through 1946 in years when the M ...

and

Miss USA Miss USA is an American beauty pageant that has been held annually since 1952 to select the entrant from United States in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operated both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA, until 2020. ...

Television appearances

Verreos competed in San Antonio magazine ''Conexión'''s 2005 "Hottest Latina" contest, placing as second runner-up, and in the CMT reality television program ''

The Ultimate Coyote Ugly Search ''The Ultimate Coyote Ugly Search'' is an American reality television competition broadcast by Country Music Television. The first two seasons saw a group of 'wannabes' paired with a serving Coyote in the hope of getting a job at the Coyote Ugly Sa ...

''. Rita was recruited by ''

Survivor Survivor(s) may refer to: * one who survives Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Survivors, characters in the 1997 KKnD series#Armies, ''KKnD'' video-game series * ''The Survivors'', or the ''New Survivors Foundation'', a fictional ...

'' casting director Lynne Spillman at a beauty pageant, and became a contestant on '' Survivor: Fiji'', the 14th season of the series. Her strategy was to draw on her sex appeal to win the show's million dollar prize. She lost 15 pounds during filming, and suffered broken cartilage in her nose. Verreos was the sixth castaway to leave the island. Verreos was a contestant on the May 29, 2009, episode of ''

The Price is Right ''The Price Is Right'' is an American television game show where contestants compete by guessing the prices of merchandise to win cash and prizes. A 1972 revival by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman of their The Price Is Right (1956 American game ...

''. Verreos' television debut was in 2003 as a TV spokesperson for

H-E-B H-E-B Grocery Company, LP, is an American privately held company, privately held supermarket chain based in San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, with more than 435 stores throughout Texas and Mexico. The company also operates Central Market (Texas) ...

, a Texas-based supermarket chain which aired on the Kens 5 (

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

) morning talk show, "Great Day SA." Verreos has also hosted "En Nuestro Hogar" on

Telemundo Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a division of NBCUniversal, which in turn is a wholly owned subsidiary of Comcast. It provides content ...

and

Azteca America Azteca is the Spanish word for Aztec. In English, Azteca or Aztecas may refer to: Animals * ''Azteca'' (ant), a genus of ants * Azteca horse, a breed of horse Games * Azteca, a world in the online game of ''Wizard101'' Sport * Aztecas de la U ...

in San Antonio (June, 2007), acted as a fill-in for the Kens 5 morning news Traffic Anchor (2008), served as a guest host on

HSN HSN, Inc. an initialism of its former name Home Shopping Network, is an American free-to-air television network owned by the QVC Group (formerly Qurate Retail Group), which also owns Catalog merchant, catalog company Cornerstone Brands. It is ...

(2009-2010) and as a "beauty tips expert" on Fox Utilisima's "Hola Martin" (2011), and acted as a fill-in anchor for KVDA Telemundo. She appeared as the TV spokesperson in the World Car TV commercials (Univision, Telemundo, 2008–2014) and infomercials on WOAI (San Antonio). She has appeared in national television commercials for Safelink cellular phones and Bedoyecta Vitamins. She created, produced and hosted the web show Latin Connection (2008-2014), and from 2017 to 2018, she appeared in roles in the Telemundo series Sangre de mí tierra (2017),

Al otro lado del muro ''Al otro lado del muro'' is a Spanish-language telenovela produced by Telemundo Global Studios and Argos Comunicación that premiered on Telemundo on 21 February 2018, and concluded on 11 June 2018. The series revolves around two women, one o ...

(2018), and

Mi familia perfecta ''Mi familia perfecta'' is an American Telenovela created by José Vicente Spataro that premiered on Telemundo on 9 April 2018 and concluded on 13 July 2018. The series revolves around of the Guerrero family, a family so united, as dysfunctional, ...

(2018). In 2019 she became one of the few News Anchors presenting and producing newscasts for both Spanish language (Telemundo KXTQ and KASA) and English language (FOX34) networks. Currently she is the first and only TV Show Host on Jewelry Television presenting shows in English and Spanish.

Other

Verreos is a former professional ballerina, and has modeled in Venezuela, Mexico, and Los Angeles, for designers such as

Oscar de la Renta Óscar Arístides Renta Fiallo (22 July 1932 – 20 October 2014), known professionally as Oscar de la Renta, was a Dominican fashion designer. Born in Santo Domingo, he was trained by Cristóbal Balenciaga and Antonio del Castillo. De la Renta ...

and Victor Alfaro. She also appeared in the 1990 film ''

Marked for Death ''Marked for Death'' is a 1990 American action film directed by Dwight H. Little. The film stars Steven Seagal as John Hatcher, a former DEA troubleshooter who returns to his Illinois hometown to find it taken over by a posse of vicious Jamaic ...

''. Rita was the "In Arena" Host at the AT & T Center for the Spurs Organization female basketball team the Silver Stars during the 2010 season. In 2008, she was awarded the "Outstanding Achievement in Entertainment" Award by La Prensa Newspaper. In 2010, Rita won the "Dancing with the Lonestars" Ballroom dancing competition to raise funds for a local charity in San Antonio, TX. In 2011, Rita received the

President's Call to Service Award The President's Call to Service Award is awarded by the President of the United States to people who have completed more than 4,000 hours of community service. It is the highest level of the President's Volunteer Service Award. Background The Pr ...

for Lifetime Achievement in Volunteerism for her decade of philanthropic work.

References

External links

Official website
*
Rita Verros biography
for '' Survivor: Fiji'' at

.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Verreos, Rita 1968 births Living people Venezuelan beauty pageant winners Survivor (franchise) contestants Venezuelan emigrants to the United States University of California, Los Angeles alumni People from Caracas People from San Antonio