Catalina López

Catalina Mercedes López Samán, best known as Katty López, is an Ecuadorian supermodel and the winner of the Miss Ecuador 2006 beauty pageant. She competed on the third season of the Univision reality series Nuestra Belleza Latina in the United States and ended up in third place on that run of the series.

Early Life

She was born on February 27, 1983 in Guayaquil, Ecuador, but her mother passed away eight months after her birth, leaving her to be raised by her uncle Raul and aunt María Luisa Saman. Catalina considers them her parents and says "they are my light and my inspiration". She does have a friendly relationship with her father Bolivar, but does not consider him as a father figure as he was not involved in raising her. She has four siblings; Raúl, Luigi, Mariuxi and Juan. Lopez attended the Universidad de Especialidades Espiritu Santo in Guayaquil, and holds a degree in sales and marketing. She married the son of an important Ecuadorian doctor Augusto Focil, Jose Manuel Focil and Catalina were married in late 2007, they went to high school together and later re-met at the Miss Universe 2006 pageant in Los Angeles.

Miss Ecuador 2006

López represented her home province of Guayas in the 2006 Miss Ecuador pageant and won the title on March 16, 2006. The contest was held in her hometown of Guayaquil, and subsequently she was the nation's representative in the 2006 Miss Universe pageant, where she did not place. However, she was a semifinalist in the 2006 Miss Continente Americano pageant, also representing Ecuador.

Nuestra Belleza Latina 2009

López auditioned in Los Angeles for the series and became among the twelve to participate in the Miami-based competition. She ended the competition in third place.