Dayanara was born in Toa Alta, Puerto Rico on October 28th, 1974 into a poor, very loving and close-knit family.  As a child, she would enjoy acting out roles such as being a model or a queen. Dancing and horseback riding were other favorite pastimes, which she continues to cultivate today.  From a very early age, Dayanara, a straight-A student, garnered honors in school.  She graduated from high school and registered to attend a local university as she aspired to become an orthodontist.  But life would take her in a very different direction.

At the age of 17, during her senior year in high school, she was walking through the Plaza de Toa Alta when she was approached by two men asking her to participate in the Miss Puerto Rico pageant as a representative of her town.  

Dayanara recalls being incredibly surprised as she never saw herself as a beauty queen . . . not for her home town of Toa Alta and even less as a representative of Puerto Rico in the Miss Universe pageant competing with 78 women from all over the world.  It was all too wonderful to dare dream it could come true. . . but it certainly did.  On May 21st, 1993, in Mexico City, Dayanara became the youngest woman ever to be chosen as Miss Universe.

Dayanara Torres is so happy to have gotten past her divorce from Marc Anthony, that she wants to share the secret of her success with the whole world.

The former Miss Universe, 33, has written and published a book called Married to Me: How Committing to Myself Led To Triumph After Divorce, now available on the Internet. “It’s a lovely, spiritual book about how to move on from a divorce gracefully and make an obligation to yourself. Dayanara wrote it with her sister, who is a mental health counselor,” her manager Jennifer Nieman told Peopleenespanol.com.

According to Nieman, despite what various media sources are saying, Torres will not give any details about her marriage to Anthony in the book. “It’s not an autobiography. It’s a self-help book,” Nieman explained, adding that the book will only use universal divorce stories as examples.

Dayanara Torres is so happy to have gotten past her divorce from Marc Anthony, that she wants to share the secret of her success with the whole world.

The former Miss Universe, 33, has written and published a book called Married to Me: How Committing to Myself Led To Triumph After Divorce, now available on the Internet. “It’s a lovely, spiritual book about how to move on from a divorce gracefully and make an obligation to yourself. Dayanara wrote it with her sister, who is a mental health counselor,” her manager Jennifer Nieman told Peopleenespanol.com.

According to Nieman, despite what various media sources are saying, Torres will not give any details about her marriage to Anthony in the book. “It’s not an autobiography. It’s a self-help book,” Nieman explained, adding that the book will only use universal divorce stories as examples.

In most recent years she has served on the board of, and made contributions to, the Children's Hope Foundation, for children and mothers affected by AIDS and Fundación Sonrisa which helps children with facial deformities in Puerto Rico.

On May 10, 2000, Dayanara wed Salsa/Pop Star Marc Anthony, and made the decision to dedicate herself to her new role as wife and mother. The couple has two children together, Cristian Anthony (born February 5, 2001) and Ryan Anthony (born August 16, 2003).

Marc and Dayanara’s divorce became final on June 1, 2004, and Marc married Jennifer Lopez four days later on June 5.

Dayanara is now dating Prison Break’s stud Amaury Nolasco.

See? Learn something before you talk. Oh! Almost forgot, JLO says she’s puertorrican… she came here for the first time in 2001, and… she doesn’t even know how to speak Spanish! Haha!! Mark is a great salsa singer, but he sucks as a person. Fuck Marc & JLO!