NIKI TAYLOR
Name: Niki Taylor
Birth name: Nicole Renee Taylor
Born: 5 March 1975 Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States
Nicole Renee "Niki" Taylor (born March 5, 1975) is an American model.
Nicole ("Niki") Renee Taylor was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Ken and
Barbara Taylor, a Broward Sheriff's Deputy and a photographer, respectively. She
was raised in Pembroke Pines, Florida and attended Cooper City High School.
After graduating, her education included studying special effects and taking
song and dance classes. She has an older sister, Joelle, and had a younger
sister, Kristen ("Krissy"), a fellow model, who tragically died of
arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia on July 2, 1995, at the age of 17.
When she was a little girl, Niki Taylor wanted to be a model. When she was 13,
she signed with Irene Marie Models in South Florida. There she met photographer
Jean Renard, who became her manager. She subsequently won a Fresh Faces contest
in New York City and a $500,000 modeling contract.
She began professional modeling at the age of 14. Two years later Niki was a
teen millionaire and president of her own company, Niki, Inc.
Her first magazine cover was an issue of Seventeen at age 16; and at 17, she
graced the cover of Vogue. (Her official website, nikitaylor.com, claims that
she is the youngest model to appear on the cover, but that record belongs to
Brooke Shields, who was 14 when she appeared on the cover in February 1980.)
Even without that distinction, Niki has over 400 worldwide magazine covers to
her credit. In May 1996, she set a record by appearing on the cover of six major
women's magazines in the same month: Allure, Vogue, ELLE, Marie Claire, Self,
and Shape. They have become known as the "Niki Six."
In 1991, she was named one of People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People.
In 1992, Taylor became the first spokesmodel under 18 to sign a major contract
with CoverGirl and she became a feature in their national advertising campaign.
Some of her other ad campaigns have been for Liz Claiborne; Nokia; Ellen Tracy;
L'Oréal, Lee Jeans; and Pantene. Taylor also simultaneously had six enormous
billboards in NYC's Times Square, in addition to three yearlong billboards for
Liz Claiborne.
She appeared in the 1997, 1998 and 1999 editions of the Sports Illustrated
Swimsuit Issue, as well as on the 1998 cover of its swimsuit calendar.
Outside of modeling, Taylor has been an interviewer for several segments of the
international syndicated show, Lifestyles. She has covered events for NBC and
guest-hosted MTV's Fashionably Loud. She also appeared in Keith Urban's "Somebody
Like You" music video. (They were dating from 2002-2004.)
On May 2, 2001, Taylor was critically injured in a car accident in Atlanta,
Georgia. The driver of the car was attempting to answer his cell phone, lost
control of the car and smashed into a utility pole. Taylor was wearing her
seat belt at the time and was not thrown from the vehicle; however, she suffered
severe internal injuries, including a collapsed lung and serious liver damage.
The accident left her unconscious for six weeks. Taylor was treated at Grady
Memorial Hospital in Atlanta and had at least 8 operations, as well as physical
therapy. In 2001, she went to rehab to treat an addiction to Vicodin, a
prescription painkiller.
On July 19, 1994, Niki Taylor married Arena football player Matt Martinez. That
December, they had twin sons, Jake and Hunter. But two years later, Taylor
and Martinez divorced.
In July 2005, Niki Taylor opened a clothing store, Abbie and Jesse's, in
Franklin, Tennessee with her manager and friend Lou Taylor (no relation).
In the fall of 2005, Niki launched her first fragrance, "Begin by Niki Taylor."
She also founded the Begin Foundation for the Advancement of Women in Business.
On January 29, 2007, Taylor filed a federal lawsuit charging E! Entertainment
with slander and emotional distress for its profile Boulevard of Broken Dreams.
She alleges the producers promised to promote her successes but instead
misrepresented her as a failure. "The first episode," the Complaint stated, "...
is a false portrayal of Ms. Taylor as being continually plagued by ill fortune
and tragedy." The lawsuit indicates the documentary alarmed a cosmetics
company with which she was negotiating to start a cosmetics line.
Supermodel Niki Taylor and male supermodel Tyson Beckford co-host the new Bravo
series "Make Me A Supermodel." It premiered on January 10, 2008.
She lives with her husband and two sons in a French colonial house on seven
acres in Brentwood, Tennessee.
Name: Niki Taylor
Birth name: Nicole Renee Taylor
Born: 5 March 1975 Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States
Nicole Renee "Niki" Taylor (born March 5, 1975) is an American model.
Nicole ("Niki") Renee Taylor was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Ken and
Barbara Taylor, a Broward Sheriff's Deputy and a photographer, respectively. She
was raised in Pembroke Pines, Florida and attended Cooper City High School.
After graduating, her education included studying special effects and taking
song and dance classes. She has an older sister, Joelle, and had a younger
sister, Kristen ("Krissy"), a fellow model, who tragically died of
arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia on July 2, 1995, at the age of 17.
When she was a little girl, Niki Taylor wanted to be a model. When she was 13,
she signed with Irene Marie Models in South Florida. There she met photographer
Jean Renard, who became her manager. She subsequently won a Fresh Faces contest
in New York City and a $500,000 modeling contract.
She began professional modeling at the age of 14. Two years later Niki was a
teen millionaire and president of her own company, Niki, Inc.
Her first magazine cover was an issue of Seventeen at age 16; and at 17, she
graced the cover of Vogue. (Her official website, nikitaylor.com, claims that
she is the youngest model to appear on the cover, but that record belongs to
Brooke Shields, who was 14 when she appeared on the cover in February 1980.)
Even without that distinction, Niki has over 400 worldwide magazine covers to
her credit. In May 1996, she set a record by appearing on the cover of six major
women's magazines in the same month: Allure, Vogue, ELLE, Marie Claire, Self,
and Shape. They have become known as the "Niki Six."
In 1991, she was named one of People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People.
In 1992, Taylor became the first spokesmodel under 18 to sign a major contract
with CoverGirl and she became a feature in their national advertising campaign.
Some of her other ad campaigns have been for Liz Claiborne; Nokia; Ellen Tracy;
L'Oréal, Lee Jeans; and Pantene. Taylor also simultaneously had six enormous
billboards in NYC's Times Square, in addition to three yearlong billboards for
Liz Claiborne.
She appeared in the 1997, 1998 and 1999 editions of the Sports Illustrated
Swimsuit Issue, as well as on the 1998 cover of its swimsuit calendar.
Outside of modeling, Taylor has been an interviewer for several segments of the
international syndicated show, Lifestyles. She has covered events for NBC and
guest-hosted MTV's Fashionably Loud. She also appeared in Keith Urban's "Somebody
Like You" music video. (They were dating from 2002-2004.)
On May 2, 2001, Taylor was critically injured in a car accident in Atlanta,
Georgia. The driver of the car was attempting to answer his cell phone, lost
control of the car and smashed into a utility pole. Taylor was wearing her
seat belt at the time and was not thrown from the vehicle; however, she suffered
severe internal injuries, including a collapsed lung and serious liver damage.
The accident left her unconscious for six weeks. Taylor was treated at Grady
Memorial Hospital in Atlanta and had at least 8 operations, as well as physical
therapy. In 2001, she went to rehab to treat an addiction to Vicodin, a
prescription painkiller.
On July 19, 1994, Niki Taylor married Arena football player Matt Martinez. That
December, they had twin sons, Jake and Hunter. But two years later, Taylor
and Martinez divorced.
In July 2005, Niki Taylor opened a clothing store, Abbie and Jesse's, in
Franklin, Tennessee with her manager and friend Lou Taylor (no relation).
In the fall of 2005, Niki launched her first fragrance, "Begin by Niki Taylor."
She also founded the Begin Foundation for the Advancement of Women in Business.
On January 29, 2007, Taylor filed a federal lawsuit charging E! Entertainment
with slander and emotional distress for its profile Boulevard of Broken Dreams.
She alleges the producers promised to promote her successes but instead
misrepresented her as a failure. "The first episode," the Complaint stated, "...
is a false portrayal of Ms. Taylor as being continually plagued by ill fortune
and tragedy." The lawsuit indicates the documentary alarmed a cosmetics
company with which she was negotiating to start a cosmetics line.
Supermodel Niki Taylor and male supermodel Tyson Beckford co-host the new Bravo
series "Make Me A Supermodel." It premiered on January 10, 2008.
She lives with her husband and two sons in a French colonial house on seven
acres in Brentwood, Tennessee.