Michele 2

Michele Merkin is an American model and television presenter. Merkin was born in Santa Clara County, California, of Swedish and Russian Jewish descent as the youngest child and only daughter of four children. She attended boarding school in England. Her mother was from Sweden, and had been a model for twenty years, including an appearance in the debut 1977 Victoria's Secret catalog. Merkin was a tall child, reaching 5 ft 11 by the age of 14. This helped her play basketball, but gathered her some abuse in school, where she was called nicknames such as "Giraffa" and "Manute Bol".