Who is Don Benjamin (ANTM) and where is he now? Wiki Bio
Don Benjamin was born in Chicago, Illinois USA, on 5 May 1987 – his zodiac sign is Taurus and he holds American nationality. He is a model, reality TV star, and a singer, best known for competing in the 20th seasons of the “America’s Next Top Model” reality TV show. He is currently living in Los Angeles, California where he is working as a model.
Early life and education
Don was raised in the South Side neighborhood of Chicago, which is known for criminal activities and poverty.
He grew up being involved in small criminal activities as well, but was never part of a gang, and because his mother wanted to get him away from that kind of life, the two moved to Florida, staying there for a short period of time before moving to Mississippi, and then to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where Don matriculated from high school.
While attending high school he became interested in music, listening to performers and bands such as Boyz II Men, Jay Z, and Jagged Edge, and then taking-up rapping himself, hoping to become a famous one day. He was also physically active, as he played basketball for his high school team, becoming its captain.
Career as a social media star and model
At the age of 18 Don moved to Los Angeles, California to become a model, after sending his pictures to several modelling agencies. However, he didn’t attract wide recognition until 2013 when he began competing in the “America’s Next Top Model” reality TV show, which aired on The CW. Don made his way through the first 12 episodes before being eliminated, and was at #8 in the overall standings. The show helped him become a famous model, as he was invited to pose for famous brands such as Guess, Pink Dolphin, and Tillys shortly after the show was over.
Two years later, he was cast to appear as a guest in the “America’s Next Top Model”, and was part of Team Marvin. He made his debut TV series appearance in “The Insider” airing on CBS in 2014 and was in 2015 featured in “Minay TV”. In 2017 he competed in the “Scared Famous” VH1 horror reality series, winning it and donating the prize of $100,000 to the charity organization Peace over Violence.
Don is also a rapper, having launched his career in 2012 when he collaborated with Photronique on her “Across the sky” track. In the same year, he released his debut song “Real”, and in October 2014 worked with Eric Bellinger on Don’s “Jealous” song.
His third song entitled “Tonight” was released in September 2015 and the year 2016 saw the release of two of his songs called “Touch My Body” and “Hit the Snooze”. His debut extended play entitled “M.P.L.S. – EP” came out on 22 February 2018 counting five songs, some of which are “Doin Something”, “Plane Jane”, and “Hometown”.
Don is also a social media star, with his Instagram account being followed by over 2.2 million people while the YouTube channel he launched on 2 May 2011 currently counts nearly 22,000 subscribers.
Love life and girlfriend
Don started dating Liane Valenzuela in 2015 after the two met on the internet. Liane was at the time very popular on the Musical.ly website, on which people uploaded their 8-second long lip syncing videos. The two documented their relationship by launching their “Forever Us” YouTube channel on 31 October 2017, which today counts close to 200,000 subscribers and eight million views combined of all their videos. Their first video was “Welcome To Our Channel”, on which they talked about why they launched the channel, as well as about their relationship.
In January 2018 they released their “No One” song. which was later also featured on Don’s debut Extended Play.
Liane Valenzuela was born in San Jose, California USA on 22 August 1986 – her zodiac sign is Leo and she holds American nationality. She is a social media star, singer and a model, best known for her Instagram account (4.5 million followers) and for her YouTube channel. While attending high school, she was physically active as she did gymnastics, played basketball and was a cheerleader.
She dreamed about becoming a singer, and was later signed by Brand X. She was a star on both Musical.ly and Vine platforms before these were shut down, leading to her moving to the TikTok platform on which she has become a star. She has appeared in several movies, including “Missing Heart” in 2016 and “Bad Escorts” in 2018.
Hobbies and other interests
Don has been a fan of the film industry since he was a teenager, and is still hoping to become an actor, and often attends auditions.
Some of his favorite actors and actresses include Marlon Brando, Heath Ledger and Julianne Moore, while some of his favorite movies are “The Dark Knight”, “A Streetcar Named Desire”, and “Kingsman: The Golden Circle”. He is physically very active, and has four to five training sessions at the gym each week, while he has also practiced kickboxing for two years. He is a huge fan of basketball, with the Los Angeles Lakers being his favorite team.
pic.twitter.com/MlcNOlEcIo
— Don Benjamin (@donbenjamin) February 11, 2020
Don is a huge fan of tattoos ,and almost his entire body has been inked over the years. He is a huge fan of cars; his favorite brands are Mercedes and BMW, and he prefers big cars (jeeps) over small ones. Don likes to travel in his spare time, and he usually uploads pictures taken during his travels onto his Instagram account.
Appearance and net worth
Don is 32 years old. He has short black hair and blue eyes, is 6ft 1ins (1.85m) tall, and weighs around 180lbs (82kgs). As of early 2020, his net worth is estimated at close to $20 million.