Vanessa Villanueva is an American actress and entrepreneur who is now better known for her relationship, being the ex-wife Chris Pérez. The actress and her famous guitarist former husband were married for 7 years, from 2001 to 2008 when they divorced. Since then, Vanessa has continued to maintain a very private life, channeling all her energy into her career and children.
Who is Vanessa Villanueva?
As stated, Vanessa is an American actress and businesswoman. Although there have been many misconceptions about her actual year of birth, we know that Venessa was born in 1971 in Corpus Christi, Texas, the USA where she was also brought up.
The parents of the actress were originally Mexicans who migrated to the States in search of a better life, and it was after they moved that they had their daughter.
As regards her education, it is known that she went to the University of California in Los Angeles. Even though there has been no clear picture of how her career path has moved through the years, she was part of the Camera and Electrical Department in the making of the 2011 film, Memphis Rising: Elvis Returns.
In 2015, she appeared as Gaby Valdez in the TV series, Forgotten Memories. Since then, her name has not been mentioned as an actress.
Vanessa and Chris Started Dating In The Late 1990s
It was in 1997 that Perez and Vanessa first met through the lead singer of his band, John Garza. They did not date for a very long time before they decided to get married in 2001. Before then, the couple had already had their first child together, Cassie.
Before their paths crossed, Chris was once married to Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, whom he worked as a guitarist in her band. They married in 1992 but only 3 years later, the singer who was considered to be one of the greatest Mexican-American singers and nicknamed the “Queen of Tejano music”, was murdered in 1995, ending their marriage of three years.
Almost three years after the death of Selena, he met Vanessa who as stated, walked down the aisle with him in 2001. The couple was blessed with two children; Noah Pérez who was born in 2005 and then Cassie who was born in December 1998.
Their Sad Divorce
After only 7 years of being married, Vanessa and Chris called it quits in 2008 following a divorce. According to Perez, the reason why he got married was that he wanted to downplay the death of Selena. He said he found her passing painful and he thought if he got married he would heal from the loss but in the end, it did not turn out as he had hoped.
More so, he revealed that Selena always comes to him whether when he was sleeping or in a daydream and it happened on a daily basis. His inability to get over the loss as well as his alcohol and drugs problem which were all linked to the loss were said to be the reason behind the divorce.
See Also: Erin Mcgathy- Bio Of Dan Harmon’s Ex-Wife, Net Worth, Marriage, 7 Fast Facts
All The Facts You Want To Know About Venessa Villanueva
1. A look at her parents, siblings, and other family members
Vanessa Villanueva’s father is Jay Villanueva and her mother is Virginia Villanueva. She has two brothers, John Villanueva and Jay Villanueva Jr., and also a sister, Veronica V. Fuentes, and two stepsiblings; Eliud Arguelles and Elaine.
2. Chris did not hide Vanessa from the public
One of the mistakes that Chris Perez believed he made with Vanessa was that he kept their relationship hidden for a long time in order to sell music. However, he insisted that he was not going to make the same mistake with Venessa after she gave birth to their kids. He said he would make everyone know they were his.
3. She was given most of his assets as alimony
While this has not been confirmed, there are sources that alleged that after the divorce, Venessa was given a major share of Chris’s assets as alimony.
4. Her two children are now grown
As revealed, the marriage between Chris Perez and Venessa was blessed with two wonderful children who are now grown. Cassie Gabrielle Perez has an interest in following in the footsteps of her father by doing music, although she went to Del Mar College and is currently working as a Medical Aesthetician, while Noah is also growing into a fine gentleman.
There were fears in June 2021 when Cassie had to go in for surgery to take out a tumor in her stomach. All fears died down after the surgery was successful and it turned out that the massive basketball-sized tumor was not cancerous.
5. Chris Perez has not married again
Since the failed marriage with Venessa, the American guitarist and songwriter have not brought himself to get married again, more than a decade after. However, he was once said to have come very close to walking down the aisle with Melissa Jimenez after it was claimed that they were engaged in 2018. Nothing more has been said about the relationship.
6. Venessa has since moved on with her life
Venessa has not tied herself to the past following her failed marriage to Chris as she has moved on with her life. She has since found a new man named Henry Soliz and together, they are now married since February 17, 2018. As much as possible, Venessa Soliz has ensured to keep her life private.
7. He has a Spa
The Corpus Cristi-born businesswoman now owns a nail salon known as V’s Day Spa in Portland where she now lives with her husband.
Even with her business, the exact net worth of Venessa Villanueva is not known. Nonetheless, it is no secret that Chris Perez has a net worth of $8 million as of 2021.
