Who Is Helen Bercero, Vanessa Lachey’s Mother? Unknown Facts

• Helen Bercero is popular as the mother of celebrity actress, model, and TV host, Vanessa Lachey, however, the two do not share a great relationship
• The mother of two has been married twice but both marriages were short-lived
• The 70-year-old previously served as a waitress and hostess in renowned strip clubs in the 90s

Helen Bercero is a Filipino woman whose fame is linked to her celebrity daughter, Vanessa Lachey; an American actress, fashion model, and television host. Helen was previously married to Vincent Minnillo and then to Bondoc but her two marriages ended in divorce following her alleged bad temper.

In the same vein, Helen and her celebrity daughter, Vanessa are estranged. The relationship between the two became strained after her second divorce. Reports confirm that she returned the children to their dad, Vince at the age of 9 and this was the last time mother and daughter saw themselves.

Consequently, Helen’s daughter Vanessa lived with feelings of abandonment, self-doubt, and insecurity. However, she soon developed a thick skin and completely shut her mother from her life.

Helen Bercero is a Filipino who Previously Worked as a Waitress and Hostess

Helen Bercero was born on June 19, 1954, in Manila, Philippines. She grew up and spent most of her childhood and teenage days there until her marriage took her out.

Upon her move out of the Philippines, Helen worked as a waitress in a Florida strip club and as a hostess at Palomino Strip Club; one of the most famous Las Vegas strip clubs back in the day. Known to be the national club of the year, it featured performers like the Everly Brothers, Rick Nelson, Linda Ronstadt, Buck Owens, and Jimmy Bryant. It also became the favorite hangout spot for many celebrities including Hank Williams, Jerry Lee Lewis, Clint Eastwood, and Hal Needham.

Though the club closed down in 1995, Helen admittedly made a lot of money which afforded her a great life. This isn’t hard to believe as her work exposed her to many high-profile guests. Asides from the patronage, Palomino Strip Club was also featured in movies like Every Which Way But Loose (1978), Any Which Way You Can (1980), and The Other Side of the Mountain Part 2 (1978). 

Helen Bercero’s Two Marriages Ended in a Divorce

Helen Bercero was previously married to Vince Minnillo; an Air Force Officer and later to Bondoc who also served in the force, however, both marriages ended in a divorce.

Her First Marriage to Vanessa’s father, Vince Minnillo’s lasted for 9 years

As hinted, Helen’s first husband was Vince. The pair reportedly met sometime in the 1970s precisely 1973 at the Clark Air Base in the Philippines. At the time of the meeting, Bercero was said to be in cosmetology school while Vince was on a job course in the Philipines.

The two then began a relationship that would lead to their marriage in 1974. A couple of years later, in 1980, they welcomed their first child Vanessa. She is currently 44 years old and successful in her own rights.

Two years later in 1982, the couple moved to California where they adopted a son named Vincent. He was about 2 years older than their daughter Vanessa.

Given the nature of her now ex-husband’s job as an Air Force officer, the entire family moved a lot and relocated to places like Florida, California, Washington, Nevada, Germany, and Japan but finally settled in Charleston, South Carolina two years later.

Although Helen and Vince shared a great relationship, they soon parted ways in 1983, a few years after the birth of their first child. However, they did not get their divorce finalized until 3 years later, in 1986.

The purported reason for the separation and eventual divorce was as a result of Helen’s bad temper. According to a report, Vince’s wife had a bad temper and they were always at loggerheads. The ex-couple even described their marriage as World War III.

This couldn’t continue for long and so they decided to call it quits on their marriage. Further explaining why they grew apart, Helen, in an interview, stated that she and her husband were not really s*xually active. She said they did not have a s*xual relationship and that she believes they were only seeking companionship when they got married.

Her Second Marriage Ended Before their 3rd Anniversary

Following the divorce, Helen and her ex-husband moved on with other people. While Vince got married to a woman named Donna. Helen married a U. S Air Force serviceman and changed her last name to Bondoc.

Helen then relocated to Turkey with her children Vanessa and Vincent who were still kids. Her second husband Bondoc played a doting stepdad for a while until their marriage also hit the rock leading up to divorce before their third year.

Helen Bercero Had a Strained Relationship With Her Only Daughter, Vanessa Lachey

With the end of Helen’s second marriage and the invasion of Kuwait, Helen returned her children to their father. According to the information gathered, she only asked him to keep them in the meantime but never returned to pick them up and so, Vanessa and Vincent lived with their father and stepmother, Donna in Charleston, Southern California.

Reliable sources report that Helen maintained communication with her children for a few years before she completely disappeared. As a result, Vanessa lived with the feeling of abandonment for many years and she even proceeded to get married without inviting her mother.

When the 70-year-old was interviewed and asked about her daughter’s wedding, she was filled with emotions. It was obvious that she wasn’t invited. She expressed regrets and hopes for a possible reconciliation.

Vanessa stated that after many years of waiting for her mother to return and she never did, she made peace with her absence. Nonetheless, the actress has opened the doors for a reconciliation stating that she would want to hear her story.

Helen Bercero’s Daughter is an Actress, Author, Beauty Queen, and Host

The 44-a year-old author who was abandoned by her mother at the age of 9 wears many hats. Not only is she a respected actress and author, but she is also a beauty queen. In fact, she started her pageantry way before the acting gigs began to roll in.

In the beginning, Vanessa contested for the title of Miss South Carolina Teen USA in 1996. Two years after, she has crowned Miss Teen USA and broke the record of the first woman from South Carolina to win Miss Congeniality. Thereafter, she became a host for a number of networks including MTV,  Entertainment Tonight, and the Miss Universe pageantry in 2007.

Asides from fronting several magazines and participating in a couple of TV game shows, Vanessa has earned roles in movies such as City Girls, That’s Life, Psych, Hawaii Five-O, and the T.V series How I Met Your Mother where she played the role of Ashlee.

In addition to being an actress, she also is an author who wrote the book ‘Life from Scratch: Family Traditions that Start with You.’ The book launch was announced on June 14, 2021, to be released on November 16 of the same year.

Bercero Has at Least 3 Grandchildren

 

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From Helen Bondoc’s daughter’s marriage of 11 years, she has been made a grandmother. Vanessa and Nick have welcomed three kids into their family.

Their first child Camden John Lachey was born on September 12, 2012, and his younger sister Elisabeth Lachey came into the world three years later on January 5, 2015. The youngest child of the family Phoenix Robert Lachey was born on December 24, 2016. He was about 10 weeks premature and had to spend 6 weeks in the hospital. Phoenix was in the NICU for a while until he was certified okay to be transferred out.

What is Helen Bercero’s Net Worth?

70-year-old former waitress and hostess who had quite a lot of money while she worked, suddenly fell to the grass. As of when she spoke to radaronline.com, she was reportedly living in a mobile house in South Carolina.

Apparently, when her second marriage ended, she lost much more. The reason she returned the children to their father was that she was low on money and couldn’t afford to give them a good life anymore.

With this piece of information, it is obvious that Helen Bercero’s net worth wouldn’t be anything to write home about.

However, her daughter, the famed actress is worth $25 million in net worth. She has amassed such wealth for herself from her acting, modeling, and hosting careers. Similarly, her cosmetic line can also be attributed to bringing in money for her. In the same vein, as an author, Vanessa’s book has fetched her a reasonable amount of money.