Beautiful Zone

Sánchez was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the youngest of four siblings - having three older brothers. She received her primary education in San Juan. At a young age, she showed an interest in both dancing and acting and would put on shows for her family. Sánchez enrolled in the University of Puerto Rico, where like her father and brothers she was to study marketing. However, this was not her calling and after three years she left the course. In 1991, at the age of 18, Sánchez moved to New York City, where she took classes in dancing, acting and singing. She returned to Puerto Rico and in 1992, she made her movie debut, having landed a small part as an island girl in the movie Captain Ron, which was partly filmed on the island, starring Martin Short and Kurt Russell.

She was born in Barranquilla, Atlantico, Colombia. Her mother is a homemaker and her father produced cattle for the meat industry. "La Toti" was the nickname given to Vergara by her five brothers and sisters and many cousins, including television news anchor and reporter Carlos Vergara, who currently works for WTVJ in Miami, Florida. She grew up in her hometown of Barranquilla and was raised in a well-off family, attending a private bilingual (Spanish/English) school. She got married at the age of 18, and she gave birth to her son Manolo in 1991 at the age of 19. After the break-up of her marriage she studied dentistry at a college in Colombia for three years. Vergara lived in Miami and then Los Angeles, and brought her mother, sister, and son to live with her.