Thanks to Oprah, ex-Brooksville resident ready for her debut as star
By Times Staff Writer
Published February 27, 2004
BROOKSVILLE - Last week, Alice Ann Miller, 33, was just another homemaker who cast aside childhood dreams of being a model and settled for life with her husband and three children in San Antonio, Texas.
Today, the former Brooksville resident and Hernando High grad will be transformed into a movie star fit to walk the red carpet with her favorite celebrities.
At least that is how a spokeswoman for the Oprah Winfrey Show billed the program, which airs at 4 p.m. today on WFLA-Ch. 8. Besides the makeover, the show is full of surprises, but a spokesman won't tell.
"I am just so happy and proud of her," said her older sister, Sherri Pecenka.
Miller's road to the red carpet began after she entered an "Oscar Makeover" contest on Oprah's Web site last week.
In her 2,000-word essay, Miller wrote about how she was married right out of high school, how she had a daughter one year later and had moved several times in the decade to be with her military husband. Neither afforded her enough time to be pampered, much less pampered like the stars.
"She just put herself on the back burner being a housewife and a mother," Pecenka said by telephone Thursday. "Her husband said how beautiful she is. I guess she didn't feel that way."
A camera crew arrived Saturday at Miller's San Antonio home, saying she and two others were chosen to be made over. Since then, Miller has received star treatment, wearing a $6,000 gown and about $13-million in jewelry, Pecenka said.
The show was taped Wednesday.
"It's surreal," said Pecenka, a 37-year-old Brooksville homemaker. "It's unbelievable."
