Jo Raquel Tejada
Born Jo Raquel Tejada, Raquel Welch was welcomed to the world on September 5th, 1940. Welch’s father was a Bolivian engineer, and her mother’s parents had English ancestry. The family moved from Illinois to San Diego when Welch was just two years old.
Interestingly enough, Welch’s cousin — Lidia Gueiler Tejada — became the first female president of Bolivia. It’s clear that talent runs in the Tejada family! Welch attended church with her mother as a child and took an interest in performing from an early age.
Miss Photogenic
Welch studied ballet for ten years until she gave it up when she turned 17. Sadly, her dance teacher told her she didn’t have the correct body shape for ballet.
Regardless, Welch was a beautiful child and had already scooped up a handful of beauty titles. When she was just 14, Welch won Miss Photogenic, and Miss Contour. While attending high school she won both Miss La Jolla and Miss San Diego. After winning multiple titles, Welch went on to become Maid of California.
Moving to San Diego
Welch went on to graduate high-school in 1958, during which time her parents separated. However, Welch went looking for an acting career and enrolled in San Diego State College to study theater arts. Just one year later, in 1959, she married her high school sweetheart, James Welch.
Welch acted in several local theater productions but eventually gave up her drama classes. She got a job as a weather forecaster on a local San Diego TV station and separated from her husband.
Waitressing in Dallas
At this point — with two children — Raquel Welch moved to Dallas, where she worked as a cocktail waitress and a model. She then picked herself up again and moved back to Los Angeles in 1963.
Welch started auditioning for film roles when she met Hollywood agent Patrick Curtis. Curtis became Welch’s manager, and the pair planned to turn her into a Hollywood symbol. They decided to keep Welch’s married name in order to avoid her getting cast solely in Latina roles.
Imagine for a moment being an ordinary young woman who suddenly starts uploading videos to her social networks and becomes famous in a matter of months. Well, that is the case of Kimberly Loaiza, a young woman who in record time became the most followed personality in some of the most relevant social networks. Just as Kim is admired by millions of fans, she has also been harshly criticized for various reasons. In this post we tell you all about her triumphs and difficulties.
A perfectly normal girl
Anyone would think that with so much success and being so young, Kimberly Loaiza had a special childhood in which she was prepared to be a celebrity, however, it was not like that. Kimberly was born and raised in a perfectly normal family.
She was born in Baja California, but when she was just a child her family decided to move to Sinaloa. There she completed her high school education and occasionally took dance and piano lessons. Not even she imagined that fame would come into her life at an early age.
Popularity began
Before becoming a YouTube celebrity, Kimberly Loaiza was already popular on other social networks. In 2011, with only 14 years old she opened her Twitter account and in a short time she reached a large number of followers.
Her witticisms and the fresh attitude she kept in all her posts attracted thousands of young people who started following her just to see her comments and the pictures she uploaded to her profile. Of course, the real fame started later.
A Special Friend
Let’s face it. Much of Kimberly Loaiza’s fame is due to the scandals she has starred in with her partner, Juan de Dios Pantoja. There are still many fans who think that these two celebrities met thanks to the internet world, but nothing is further from the truth.
Kim and Juan de Dios met in Sinaloa when she was 15 years old. Juan was part of a dance group that competed between schools and by attending Kim’s high school, he met her.
The Secret
At only 15 years old Kimberly began a relationship with Juan de Dios. Of course, the courtship was a total secret, since Kim’s family was Christian and it seemed to them that the young girl was not old enough to have a boyfriend.
But, as between heaven and earth there is nothing hidden, the family of the future influencer ended up discovering the relationship. At first they did not agree, however, Juan spoke with them and they reached a quite particular agreement.
Let’s go to church!
Kimberly’s parents asked Juan de Dios to attend church every Sunday. Only in this way could the couple share under the supervision of Kim’s family. Juan agreed, for he was truly in love with the young woman.
Pantoja attended church for a few months and then simply continued his relationship with Kimberly while respecting her parents’ rules. They stayed that way for two years, however, the strict rules of Loaiza’s family were beginning to suffocate the couple.
The beautiful Raquel Welch is an iconic American actress and singer. This legendary beauty is even credited with ending Hollywood’s trend and obsession with the blonde bombshell. Welch first entered the industry back in 1956 and has been turning heads ever since. An icon of the 1960s and 1970s, Welch has topped many ‘Hottest Stars’ lists. Keep scrolling to take a look at Raquel Welch’s life through these rare vintage photos.