Taliana Vargas | |
|---|---|
 | |
| First Lady of Cali[1][2] | |
| Assumed role January 1, 2024 | |
| Mayor | Alejandro Eder |
| Preceded by | Marcela Patiño |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Taliana María Vargas Carrillo (1987-12-20)December 20, 1987 (age 37) Santa Marta,Magdalena, Colombia |
| Spouse | [3] |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | Northern Virginia Community College |
Taliana María Vargas Carrillo (born December 20, 1987)[4] is a Colombian model andbeauty pageant titleholder who was crownedMiss Colombia 2007[5] and placed 1st Runner-Up atMiss Universe 2008. Vargas is a student ofJournalism at theNorthern Virginia Community College inAlexandria,Virginia.[citation needed]
Born and raised inSanta Marta, Colombia, Vargas is ofGreek andLebanese descent through her grandparents, and hasItalian relatives.[6][4][7] She speaks fluentSpanish,English, andItalian, as well as someGreek andArabic.[8]
Vargas was crowned as Miss Colombia on November 12, 2007, thus bringing the first crown to her home department ofMagdalena, Colombia. During the three-week-long competition, she was also awarded with the Miss Elegance, Best Face Award and The Queen of the Police.
During the pageant, Vargas was a top 10 finalist in the Best National Costume competition and in the Best In Bikini event (which had no bearings on the selection of the top 15 semi-finalists), Vargas was awarded 2nd place while Miss Mexico,Elisa Nájera, took first place. On 14 July 2008, during the pageant's finals, Vargas was announced as one of the 15 semi-finalists. In the swimsuit competition, she received the highest score with 9.433, thus entering the top 10 in first place. During the evening gown portion, she received one of the highest televised scores in recent years: 9.829.[9] Vargas thus became one of the 5 final contestants, coming in first place. Despite being the clear winner in two out of the three rounds, after the interview portion, it wasDayana Mendoza ofVenezuela who went on to win the title ofMiss Universe 2008 while Vargas ended up as 1st Runner-Up. Colombia has reached the 1st Runner-Up in Miss Universe during three consecutive years:Paola Turbay in 1992,Paula Andrea Betancourt in 1993, andCarolina Gomez in 1994. Her placement as 1st Runner-Up was the highest one of Colombia untilPaulina Vega's victory in2014.
Taliana appeared in her first leading role as Niña Cabrales in theRCN TV soap operaChepe Fortuna in 2010. The show, a huge success in Colombia and other parts ofSouth America, won Taliana aTVyNovelas Award for Favourite Actress in a Leading Role.[10]
Taliana Vargas is the main character in a Colombian soap opera,Rafael Orozco El Idolo. The soap opera is about a Vallenato singer from Valledupar, Colombia and Taliana plays the wife of the singer.
In 2017, she played Paola Salcedo, the wife of theCali Cartel's security chief in the third season of the American series made byNetflix;Narcos.
She has been the image of various brands in Colombia such asL'Oréal Paris Elvive, Studio F,Nestlé.
Vargas has been married since 15 August 2015 to the Cali politician,Alejandro Eder, with whom she has two children named Alicia and Antonio. Was active during her husband Alejandro Eder's political campaign forMayor of Cali. Later on 29 October during the2023 Colombian regional and municipal elections Alejandro would be elected as the new mayor of Cali, making her the newFirst Lady of Cali, her new role being that of social manager during the local administration of Alejandro Eder.
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Miss Universe 1st Runner-Up 2008 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Miss Colombia 2007 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Malka Irina Piña | Miss Magdalena 2007 | Succeeded by María Pinedo Manrique |
