Jovanni Ortiz was born on February 4, 1992 in Manhasset, New York. He was raised in Valley Stream, New York. His mother Joanna is of Puerto Rican descent, born and raised in Brooklyn. His father Robert hails from the Dominican Republic where he was born and raised until the age of 6. Jovanni also lived in the Dominican Republic for several months with his grandmother and claims this was how he became fluent in Spanish. Jovanni attended the New York Institute of Technology and Molloy College studying criminal justice. He began his acting career at a very young age, pounding the pavement in New York City in search of acting jobs. He began his career at Mollo Management and has filmed several commercials for companies such as Verizon Wireless and Macy's. Jovanni has been an entertainment contributor for TMZ and also appeared on the sixth season of the popular reality show "Jerseylicious". He worked as a recurring actor on the Investigation Discovery Network, having appeared on the fourth season of the television series "Stalked: Someones Watching" and was even considered for hosting the show. He has also appeared on several television series' for networks such as VH1. He has been very involved with both the restaurant and entertainment industries and worked as the pop culture expert for Long Island Pulse Magazine. He recently returned to television in a reality series titled "In The Circle". Jovanni still resides on Long and is a Licensed Realtor with a luxury real estate firm. Jovanni also spent years working as a model but devoted most of his time to acting. Show less «