Al Horford's Wife Is a Former Miss Universe, TV Host, and an Actress

May 2024 · 4 minute read

Celtics' Al Horford has a special connection to Boston, his wife Amelia Vega. The Dominican couple met by chance at an award show in the City of Champions in the 2000s and returned a decade later when the NBA player joined the Celts.

While beauty is subjective, height is not. At just over six feet tall, Amelia Vega is the tallest woman to wear the Miss Universe crown to date. Her basketball player husband, Al Horford's height is moderately average in his field, towering in at 6'10."

The former beauty queen is a Cover Girl model, television host, singer, and actress. She is an enthusiastic courtside supporter of her husband, sporting a custom number 42 jersey that she bedazzled herself.

Miss Universe 2003, Dominican Amelia Vega smiles at the crowd during the Miss Universe final show in Quito, Ecuador, 1 June 2004. | Source: Getty Images

Amelia Vega Is a Former Miss Universe

Vega, born November 7, 1984, became the first Dominican woman and one of the youngest to be crowned Miss Universe 2003 at 18. Her mother, Patricia Polanco, represented their country in the Miss World beauty pageant in 1980.

The vertically blessed pair started dating in 2008.

During her Miss Universe reign, she was involved in Global Health Council and the Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR). The president of the Dominican Republic, Hipólito Mejía, gave her an award of recognition for her work as a goodwill ambassador.

Amelia Vega Is a Multi-Disciplinary Entertainer

After spending the last year of her teens traveling the world, Vega hosted the reality shows "Voces de America," "Segunda Oportunidad," and the 2007 Mexican dating show "Suegra." She owns two boutiques in Miami called Essence by Amelia Vega.

Her most notable film credit is alongside Andy Garcia, who also directed, and Inés Sastre in the 2005 romance, "The Lost City." She released an album in 2011, "Agua Dulce," which means freshwater in Spanish, although the literal translation is "Sweet Water."

She is a distant relative of "Summertime" voice actress and US Navy vet Carolina Bonetti; they share a great-grandmother, and she is the niece of Grammy-award-winning entertainer Juan Luis Guerra. Her father is a doctor, and her mom, Polanco, is an actress and director.

Boston Celtics Al Horford takes a selfie in the Boston Red Sox dugout with his wife Amelia Vega before the game at Fenway Park in Boston on July 8, 2016. Hereford was at Fenway to throw out the ceremonial first pitch. | Source: Getty Images

Dominicans Vega and Horford Crossed an Ocean to Meet Each Other

Vega and her future husband Horford were born on opposite sides of the Dominican Republic, in Santo Domingo and Puerto Plata, respectively. With an actual island between them, the pair met in Boston around 2006 at the Latin Pride Awards.

The vertically blessed pair started dating in 2008 and wed on Christmas Eve 2011 in their mutual birth country. On their fifth wedding anniversary, she called her marriage "the best decision of her life" and thanked him for being the "perfect husband for her."

Dominican-American baseball star, David Ortiz, had a hand in making their big day perfect. Despite being out of the country, he organized a Rolls-Royce Phantom as their wedding car hours before the event and gifted the newlyweds its use during their honeymoon.

The Horford Vega Team Will Soon Have Seven Players

The couple's firstborn is Ean Horford Vega, born on February 23, 2015, followed by Alía Horford Vega, on November 27, 2015; Ava Amelia Horford Vega, on June 11, 2018; and Nova Horford Vega, on January 15, 2021.

The Horford Vega clan announced Vega's fifth pregnancy with an adorable basketball-themed baby announcement. The highly pregnant model is the ref, while the kids are decked out in custom pink and blue basketball kits, and Horford takes the coach role.

A pink and blue basketball with a blacked-out outline of a baby with the letter five completed the fun family photo shoot. Unlike with previous pregnancies, the couple did not reveal the gender and just mentioned the baby is due in December 2022.

Vega is the author of the Spanish children's book "Un día en la Vida de Pichín" ("A day in the life of Pichin") and has an Amazon store with children's toys. The former Miss Universe is an avid crafter for personal projects and slightly messier projects with the kids.

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