Comprehensive information and links about Kelly Monaco

Kelly Monaco (born May 23, 1976 in Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaKelly Monaco is an American model, actress, and reality television contestant.

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Early life

Kelly Monaco grew up in a traditional Italian American Catholic household, the third of five sisters. The Monacos relocated from Philadelphia to the rural Pocono Mountains region of Pennsylvania before Kelly became a teenager. Although initially unhappy about the move, she eventually learned to love her peaceful surroundings.

Monaco excelled at sports, including soccer, swimming, tennis, track, and softball, as well as speech, debate and drama during her years at Pocono Mountain High School in Swiftwater, where she graduated in 1994. She then attended Northampton Community College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where she majored in mass communications for two years, and worked as a lifeguard at the Mount Airy Lodge in Mount Pocono. With dreams of becoming an actress, she planned her escape from the Poconos.

magazine and was contacted one month later by the men's publication. With her family's approval, she traveled to Chicago for a photo shoot. She became s Playmate of the Month in April 1997, and was also featured in several of its newsstand specials. The work allowed her the opportunity to travel to many exotic locales, including Fiji, Honduras, and throughout South America.

Along with making an appearence in the November 2005 issue of (previously unpublished pictures from her Miss April 1997 shoot) , Monaco has also made numerous recent cover appearances in scantily-clad magazines such as from 1997 to 1998. In addition to playing the role of "Susan on "BayWatch", Monaco also was Carmen Electra's : Olivia “Livvie” Locke Morley (1999–2003) and Tess Ramsey (2002–2003). When that program ended, she joined the cast of soap opera as possible con woman Samantha “Sam” McCall in September 2003.

In 2003 Monaco was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for [Supporting Actress in a Drama Series] for role on . In 2006 Monaco was again nominated for a Daytime Emmy, this time for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Sam McCall on

In summer 2005, Monaco appeared as a contestant in the highly-rated American version of the television series and an initial lack of grace, she improved each week and became a popular underdog. In the quarterfinal round samba, she coolly recovered from a mid-dance wardrobe malfunction without becoming exposed on live national television. On July 6, 2005, Kelly Monaco won the competition.

This was viewed by some as an upset, whereas others suspected ballot-box stuffing, a frequent complaint of Internet-based voting. This was discussed briefly on a interview with several members of the show, but was not pursued by runner-up John O'Hurley, who took the high road and declared that participation and viewer popularity was more important to him than winning. However, it was decided to have a "Dance-Off" special as a follow up to this controversial result, with a presumably lessened chance of Internet voting skewing the results. It was held "live" on September 20 and results were announced two days later. This time, O'Hurley and his dance partner Charlotte emerged as the winners. From appearances, it is fair to say that Monaco was as happy about losing this match as O'Hurley was about losing the regular competition.

The win on boosted her visibility level considerably and resulted in a number of appearances on talk shows as well as possible new job offers, but she stated that she intends to remain with