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Sofia Vergara

By SARA TEMPLETON

When the words 'Colombia' and 'famous women' are mentioned in the same sentence, most will be quick to mention Shakira, or maybe those who frequent this website may even mention Tatiana de los Rios.

But you can now add another to the list: Sofia Vergara.

Her biggest claim to fame thus far in her career would probably be her stint as former host of a popular travel show (Fuera de Serie) on Univision.

It's also interesting to note the question she most frequently gets asked: Are they real?

To this she replies: "If you're asking if my breasts are natural, yes, this is how I've looked since I was 13 years old." Well, I'm not going to touch that -- oops, I mean....

As is understandable, Sofia is a huge celebrity in Latin America and her influence is starting to spread into North America where the larger the bosom, the larger the paycheque.

Sofia Vergara was born on July 10, 1972 in Barranquilla, Colombia, and has five siblings. She is candid of her childhood, stating she was very close to her family, but was often one of the quieter children.

While she loved to be entertained by music, both listening to her favourite bands and also when relatives would pipe up with a bit of song and dance, she was also very keen to study hard at school.

Sofia attended a private school where she quickly became familiar with the English language, and also a host of hot boyfriends. At age 18 she married her boyfriend of 18 and today she says the most important thing in her life is Manolo, her son.

While Sofia is no longer married to her high school sweet-heart, she still finds plenty of time to take care of Manolo, despite her busy lifestyle.

After finishing school she initially wanted to get into dentistry (didn't we all?), but three years into her course she threw it all away after she was discovered by a fashion photographer while strolling along a beach in her hometown.

Seeing the glitz and glamour of the fashion world, Sofia decided to take a punt on modeling and her first gig, at age 20, saw her star in a Pepsi commercial that aired right across Colombia.

Following this blanket exposure, she naturally found much work on the catwalks and also in television.

One of her more memorable jobs was working for four years ('95-'99) on the travel TV show Fuera de Serie, which could best be described as a Latin American version of Channel Nine's Getaway.

Most recently, Sofia has finished up work on a big-budget Visa commercial where she plays a Lara Croft kind of character, which will air in Australia and New Zealand and is sure to provoke a few "Who is that?!" comments.

The advertisement was shot in Prague and was directed by Brushes Hunt, who also helped put together The Matrix. Including work on other TV shows, including dramas and soaps, Sofia has also released her own calendar and stars in the upcoming caper movie Big Trouble, staring alongside Rene Russo and Tim Allen.

But perhaps her most eye-opening work can be seen online: Arguably the most popular Latin American woman in cyberspace, her website - www.sofiavergara.com - averaged more than 12 million hits a month in its first year.

What more needs to be said: The people have spoken.