Born in Benavente, Spain in 1977, Almudena Fernandez moved to Madrid with her family when she was a young girl. A typical childhood replete with a love-filled home preceded her assent to the top of the modeling world. Just as she was completing high school, however, the normalcy of that childhood would end.

During her senior year of high school, Fernandez entered a Supermodel of the World contest. The grueling competition pitted Spain's most beautiful teens against each other and, after all was said and done, she finished second...