Somewhere Tyra Banks is smiling.
Polarizing America’s Next Top Model alum Yaya Dacosta—she was cycle 3’s runner-up—has been tapped to take over the recurring role of Wilhelmina’s defiant daughter Nico on Ugly Betty, sources confirm to me exclusively.
The character—originated by Jowharah Jones—resurfaces in the Oct. 9 season premiere and promptly gets caught up in one of the show’s new mysteries.
Dacosta’s previous acting credits include All My Children and that forgettable dance movie with Antonio Banderas.
On a scale of 1-10 (1 being “ugh, she was an arrogant snot on Top Model!” and 10 being “woo-hoo, I knew she was destined for greatness!”), what do you give this recast?
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I liked the old actress. I really hate these recasts
So, let’s go out on a limb here and say that Nico is the one in Wili’s apartment she was surprised to see.
yeah i wish they could always stick to the original for continuity purposes
I liked the original actress. Yaya was horrible on AMC and looks to old to play Nico compared to the original actress.
HATE Yaya with a passion. She was a pretentions b—- on ANTM and I hoped she would’ve burst in to flames by now.
Hate her! 2 arrogant bad actress~!
I think I’m one of the few who really liked Yaya on ANTM. Good for her!
I really liked her too. It really irritates me when a strong, self-possessed woman is described as an “arrogant beyotch”. It smacks of sexism.
I hate when people claim that anytime someone is called a b****, people just claim it’s sexist and she’s just strong. Yaya came across as a snot and a diva. She may be a nice person in real life, but she comes of a truly a b**** and I’ve seen her act and it’s not good.
I give this a 10. LOVE YaYa. Love that they’re bringing the character back!
Ugh I hated yaya on ANTM so glad Eva won that. Yaya is so arrogant and annoying and as Tyra once said she needs a big piece of humble pie!! =) ya i know my top model!! hehe
Eva’s attitude was no better than Yaya’s. What does Tyra know about humble pie?
You probably don’t remember but Eva came from parents that treated her like cramp. They always put her down and told her she was nothing. So, that attitude she had came from her being hurt she thought that was a way to protect herself from anyone else trying to hurt her. YaYa’s parents was always good to her so her having a nasty attitude was not necessary. You probably get along with your parents they always told you you were great just imagine if you had no one in your family always supporting you. I wish people would think first before judging others.
I wish people would think first before judging YaYa. I think Eva was the right winner that cycle, but YaYa’s strenght and self-possession were wholly misinterpreted by Tyra and Co.
How do you know that Yaya’s “parents were always good to her?” Did they raise you? Were you there everyday? Just because Yaya didn’t use her time on ANTM to air her family’s dirty laundry doesn’t mean she doesn’t have any or hasn’t had to overcome obstacles in her life.
Love Yaya! I give it a 10. I might actually watch the show every week this season instead of every now and then.
Side note: She should have won her season. Eva was arrogant; why couldn’t Yaya be? She was good enough to be and she’s a great role model. Someone on TV who’s actually educated: I say yes!
KP, Eva’s arrogance was a way for her to protect herself. She was always on her own and had no support. YaYa was nasty because she thought her education made her better then everyone else. Please don’t get me wrong being educated is a great thing but to be a role model that is a person who doesn’t always put others down and YaYa did that during her season. Being a role model is someone who is well rounded, someone who doesn’t put others down just because they don’t have the same kind of education they do. Role models should have a good heart and soul as well as having a good education. They’re so many millionaire’s in this world that never went to college and some that never even finish high school.
I understand your support of Eva and I understand her situation. I’ve felt like Eva did growing up, but I did not act that way. Yaya’s confidence, or arrogance as others would say, was misinterpreted. I’ve had people call me arrogant because I’m proud of my education and I like to flaunt it sometimes. Why is that? It was a competition and competitions get cutthroat, but from what I’ve seen of Eva since the show, that’s just how she is. Knowing what Eva went through makes me sympathetic to her situation, but I don’t use that as an excuse for her. I overcame obstacles without acting the way that Eva did. For all we know, Yaya could feel the same way Eva does. Only they know that. However, both of them have good careers now and I’m proud of both of them. I like to see people succeed.
You know, there’s comes a point where, if you (general ‘you’) are striving to be any kind of decent person, you don’t use whatever misfortunes life’s handed you as an excuse to treat other people like crap. There are plenty of people who’ve had even worse childhoods than Eva’s — people who suffered serious, regular physical, emotional and/or mental abuse — who’ve managed to come out of the other side of that and still be caring towards others. I’m sympathetic to Eva’s situation up to a point, but not to a point that excuses every single mean-spirited or nasty thing that comes out of her mouth. Eva seems to have grown up a lot since her time on ANTM, but by the time she was on ANTM, she was old enough to know better than to be a jerk to other people just because she was afraid they’d be jerks to her first.
Well evidently Eva does a better job acting than YaYa. She holds a steady acting job on Young and the Restless while they quickly fired Ya Ya from All My Children.
Willie’s daughter, Nico, was in 3 episodes during the first season and I doubt most people will remember what she looked like because she had an very little screen time. Only a retard would be upset by the recasting of such an insignificant character.
Pete, using slurs is a poor way to demonstrate your vaunted intelligence.
Well, so is making comments that are off topic, but that certainly didn’t stop you!
They should have cast Bryce Dallas Howard.
That was hilarious – thank you.
Ha ha – good one!
I had no idea who YaYa was before she did AMC, but she was HORRIBLE on that show. So whiny. I was thrilled when the character got shipped out of the country. I can only assume she’ll be just as thrilling on this show.
That’s not saying much joeinmemphis, because I watch Y&R and Eva is HORRENDOUS!! Thank god she’s only on once every few months….
I really liked YaYa on ANTM, but that was years ago, so I give this a 7.