Candice Michelle

Biography

Candice Michelle Beckman (born September 30, 1978), better known as Candice Michelle, is an American model, actress and retired professional wrestler. She is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) as a producer. She is best known for her tenure in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). After five years of modeling and acting, Beckman was hired by WWE in 2004, after she participated in the WWE Diva Search. At Vengeance in 2007, she defeated Melina to win her first WWE Women's Championship and became the first former Diva Search contestant to win a WWE Championship. She was released from her WWE contract on June 19, 2009. Beckman made a special appearance on the WWE Raw Reunion episode on July 22, 2019, briefly winning the WWE 24/7 Championship, the second woman to have done so. Beckman also posed in the April 2006 issue of Playboy, appearing on the cover.

== Early life == Beckman was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Michael Beckman (1951–1980) and his wife, Kathleen (née Iwen; 1951–2002). Beckman is of German and Costa Rican descent. She played varsity and college basketball and has an interest in many sports. Candice is a Green Bay Packers fan.

== Modeling and acting career == Beckman won a modeling competition aged sixteen at her local skating rink. Around 1999, she moved to Los Angeles, California, to become a professional model and actress. She studied Theater Arts at Santa Monica College and had on-camera acting and Meisner technique training at The Piero Dusa Acting Studio. It was during this time that Beckman adopted her middle name Michelle as her working last name. Her first role was in the 2001 movie Tomcats. Beckman also made appearances on television programs such as Party of Five and 7th Heaven, as well as appearing in films Anger Management, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, and A Man Apart. Beckman made her first appearances with Playboy in 2001, including an appearance on their Sexy Urban Legends TV series in the episode Spring Break Mistake. In June 2002, Beckman was named Cyber Girl of the Week in the June 2002 issue of Playboy, alongside an appearance later in the same year in Lowrider Magazine. On October 11, 2002, Candice starred in an episode of the softcore porn television series – Hotel Erotica that aired on Cinemax, playing a character called Natasha. From 2002 to 2004, Beckman starred in series of films as a fetish model under the alias of Mackenzie Montgomery.

GoDaddy Commercials Beckman gained national attention in 2005 when she appeared in a commercial for internet domain provider GoDaddy, which aired during Super Bowl XXXIX. She played a character named "Nikki Cappelli" who had trouble with a snapped spaghetti strap on her tank top as she testified before a panel holding broadcast censorship hearings. The commercial was a parody of the 2004 "wardrobe malfunction" in which Janet Jackson's right breast was exposed. She then became widely known as "Miss GoDaddy.com" and the "GoDaddy Girl". The following year, she was featured in several more GoDaddy commercials. During the 2006 NFC playoffs, she was featured cleaning windows. She later appeared in a commercial during Super Bowl XL, where she seduced an ABC executive to acquire an advertising slot for GoDaddy. She appeared in another commercial for Super Bowl XLI in 2007, where she danced in a room being doused with champagne. Beckman appeared on American Chopper to promote the commercial as well as GoDaddy's custom made chopper. In 2008, she was featured in her fourth consecutive GoDaddy commercial for Super Bowl XLII, entitled "White Light", but Fox refused to air it.

== Professional wrestling career ==

=== World Wrestling Entertainment (2004–2009) ===

==== Vince's Devils (2004–2006) ====

In July 2004, Beckman auditioned to be a contestant for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)'s Raw Diva Search. Despite not being chosen to be in the final ten, she was hired by the company under the gimmick of a makeup artist. She competed on Raw in several Diva contests, including lingerie fashion shows and limbo contests, until the end of the year. On June 30, 2005, Candice was moved to SmackDown! where she became involved in a storyline between Torrie Wilson and Melina. On July 24, Candice made her pay-per-view debut at The Great American Bash where she served as the Special Guest Referee for the Bra and Panties match between Wilson and Melina. She was then moved back to Raw in a trade along with Wilson. According to Michelle, she was traded back to RAW since SmackDown was rated PG and her character didn't fit the rating. In her next storyline, Candice and Torrie became villains by taunting 2005 Diva Search winner Ashley Massaro, and they joined forces with fellow Raw Diva Victoria to form an alliance known as Ladies in Pink (later Vince's Devils). On the September 5 episode of Raw, Wilson defeated Massaro after the interference from Victoria and Candice. They continued feuding with Massaro until Trish Stratus returned from a legitimate injury to help Massaro "retaliate" against Vince's Devils. On the October 17 episode of Raw, where she, Torrie and Victoria faced off against the team of Stratus, Massaro, and their new ally Mickie James in a winning effort after Wilson pinned James. On November 28 episode of Raw, Candice teamed up with Victoria and Torrie Wilson in losing effort to Trish, Ashley and Mickie. In November, Candice signed on to pose for the April 2006 issue of Playboy. She had her first shot at the WWE Women's Championship in a Fulfill Your Fantasy Battle Royal at Taboo Tuesday but was eliminated from the match by Massaro. At the Tribute to The Troops on December 19, Michelle teamed up with Maria Kanellis in a winning effort defeating then Women's Champion Trish Stratus and Ashley Massaro in a divas-tag-team match after Candice pinned Ashley. In January, Candice appeared at New Year's Revolution in the first ever Bra and Panties Gauntlet match, where she was eliminated by Maria. On the February 13 episode of Raw, Michelle accompanied Torrie in a losing effort to Ashley. After winning a number one contender's Diva battle royal on Raw, Candice got her first singles WWE Women's Championship match, but lost to then-champion Trish Stratus on February 27. After the match, Candice slapped Wilson, blaming her, in storyline, for the loss. Vince's Devils later broke up when Torrie became a fan favorite after Candice and Victoria turned on her during Candice's Playboy cover unveiling. This feud led to a match at WrestleMania 22 in which both Playboy cover girls competed in a Playboy Pillow Fight. Torrie Wilson won the match. On the June 12 episode of Raw, Candice was defeated by Torrie in the first ever "Wet and Wild match", a wrestling match involving water balloons and squirt guns, in which the winner of the match would be on the cover of the WWE 2006 Summer Special magazine. The feud continued sporadically in backstage segments where Candice was depicted as Vince McMahon's "sex slave". In a January 2021 interview with the Wrestling Inc. Daily, Candice described her on-screen romance angle with McMahon as being uncomfortable and "awkward," and in August 2023 also stated that she actually had no idea that McMahon would do things like grab her breasts before it happened. On the July 11 episode of ECW, the villainous Candice appeared as Kelly Kelly's dance partner on that night's Kelly's Exposé segment, and attempted to seduce Kelly in a backstage segment before the two divas went out to perform.