- Born
- Birth nameMercedes Yvette Scelba-Shorte
- Height5′ 8″ (1.73 m)
- Born to a white mother and an African American father in 1981 in New Jersey. Her mother Mary Scelba then moved her family to Valencia, California to get Mercedes out of the dangers she was facing in New Jersey. Diagnosed with Lupus a year ago, Mercedes has gone from trying furiously to hide her disease from the world to becoming a National Spokesperson for the Lupus Foundation of America. She has and will continue to take the world by storm!
- IMDb mini biography by: Evelyn
- She has recently become a National Spokesperson for The Lupus Foundation of America and her picture can be found their homepage.
- Had plans to move to New York to pursue modeling and acting, but has since been signed with New Model Management in Los Angeles.
- She was a Communications major at California State University, Northridge until a friend suggested she try out for America's Next Top Model (2003).
- Her favorite movie is Finding Nemo (2003).
- Her favorite TV shows are Seinfeld (1989), The Simpsons (1989), Sex and the City (1998), and 106 & Park: Prime (2003).
- I grew up in a Spanish neighborhood and my stepfather is Chinese, so as you can see, I'm a pretty well-rounded individual.
- Oh, I worked it on that runway! I don't really think there was anything I could have done. The judges knew why they wanted Yoanna to win, even though their reasons were different then mine, but they chose her to win and I don't think there was anything else I could have done to change their minds. They knew she would be a success in the industry, and I wish her luck.
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