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Willa Ford

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Willa Ford
Background information
Birth nameAmanda Lee Williford
Born (1981-01-22) January 22, 1981 (age 43)
GenresPop, dance-pop
Occupation(s)Singer, songwriter, dancer, record producer, presenter, actress, interior designer
Years active1999–present
Labels
Websitehttps://www.wfordinteriors.com/

Amanda Lee Williford (born January 22, 1981),[1] known by her stage name Willa Ford, is an American interior designer and former singer, songwriter, television personality, film actress, dancer, and model. She released her debut album, Willa Was Here, in 2001. Ford also has appeared in movies such as Friday the 13th (2009), hosted several reality television shows, posed for Playboy and competed on ABC's Dancing with the Stars.

Early life

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Ford was raised in Ruskin, Florida.[1] She began singing with the Tampa Bay Children's Choir at age eight. At age 11, she started singing with the Tampa-based children's performing arts troupe, Entertainment Revue.[1] She attended East Bay High School in Gibsonton, Florida.[citation needed]

Career

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Music career

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In 1999, the 18-year-old Ford started performing under the stage name Mandah and was signed to MCA.[1] Ford was later dropped from MCA and signed by Atlantic Records. Atlantic placed one of Ford's songs, "Lullaby," on the soundtrack for Pokémon: The First Movie. Ford changed her stage name from Mandah to Willa Ford to avoid confusion with Mandy Moore.[1]

In 2000, she was one of the opening acts on the Backstreet Boys' "Into the Millennium" tour.

In 2001, Ford signed on to a new label, Lava Atlantic Records, while on a mall tour for Nautica Kids. Ford wrote most of her own lyrics and served as executive producer for most of her first album. On July 17, 2001, she released Willa Was Here. The album included the single "I Wanna Be Bad" which featured rapper Royce da 5'9". Willa Was Here reached 56 on the Billboard 200 and sold approximately 200,000 copies.[citation needed] Ford went on to release a second single from the album, "Did Ya' Understand That," which was released on September 11, 2001, failed to garner much attention. She would later explain that "Everything that happened that day froze; the world stood still, as it should have. My second single didn’t do well because anything that launched that day kind of got canned."[2] "Ooh Ooh" was released as a promotional single, but also failed to find success.

Ford was a spokesperson for Pantene Pro-V's ProVoice campaign while promoting the album. She also appeared in Uncle Kracker's video for "In A Little While." Ford also went on to guest-host MTV's TRL and Say What Karaoke, which led to a hosting contract with Viacom. Ford hosted the MTV reality shows The Morning After and I Bet You Will. In 2001, Ford also co-wrote and recorded a duet with South Korean pop star Park Ji-yoon. The song, titled "Nastified," appeared on Park's fifth album, Man. She was also part of an ad campaign for Six Flags.

In 2003, Ford released a song titled "A Toast to Men." The song, which featured guest rapper Lady May, was featured in daytime promotional ads for soap operas. The single came from her unreleased second album Sexysexobsessive, which was previously titled Porn Poetry. The title track, "Sexysexobsessive," was to be the second single, but it was only released through Ford's official website.

From 2005 to 2006, she appeared as a guest doll in Pussycat Dolls' show at the club in Las Vegas. In 2010, she released the first song since 2003 "All This Time" online, collaborated with Riley Smith. In 2011, Ford resumed her music career with a performance at The Viper Room in LA. In the performance, she revealed her first solo song since 2003, "Back Back Back." In 2014, she was featured in the song "Rock Tonight" by Willa Ford, Eve Nelson and Ray Cervenka.[3]

She would state that after her music didn't garner as much success as hoped for, she "really took a step back because I felt like I wasn't doing what I was supposed to be at the time." "I know that sounds crazy, but it was the perfect storm, and I walked away," as she would go on to try out many different careers.[2]

Television, film, and magazine appearances

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In 2002, Ford appeared in an episode of the short-lived television sitcom Raising Dad, playing a bully named Edie. In 2005, Ford hosted the first season of the reality show The Ultimate Fighter on Spike TV.[4] After the show's finale, Ford was contracted as a summer's guest doll performer for the Las Vegas shows of The Pussycat Dolls. Ford was later featured as the June celebrity on FHM's 2005 pin-up calendar.

In early 2006, Ford played as one of the four celebrity quarterbacks for the Lingerie Bowl, which was shown during the half-time of Super Bowl XL. Later that year, she was featured in a nude pictorial in the March 2006 issue of Playboy. Stuff magazine ranked her No. 48 in the 101 Sexiest Online Women supplement later that year. In fall 2006, Ford competed on the third season of Dancing with the Stars. Ford and her partner, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, were eliminated in the fifth week of competition. She talked about her experience with Maxim in its January 2007 issue.

Ford appeared on an episode of My Celebrity Home on the Style Network, which aired on January 31, 2007[5] She also hosted the third season of Pants-Off Dance-Off on Fuse TV. On August 23, 2007, Ford and her then-husband, NHL hockey player Mike Modano, were featured in an episode of MTV Cribs.

Ford appeared in the 2009 slasher film Friday the 13th.

Ford played Becca in the direct-to-video Universal Squadrons, which was first shown at the Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival in 2010.[6][7]

Ford appeared in a 2011 episode of The Glades. In 2012, she appeared in 4 episodes of the Magic City and an episode of Leverage season five. In June 2014, it was announced that she was working on four films: Submerged,[8] Any Day, The Nurse, and Checkmate.[9]

Ford was also cast in the film Assassin's Fury, but was later dropped. In an interview with BZFilm.com, producer Fabio Soldani said that Ford was replaced after five days of shooting and that she was "a nightmare to be around" and "shooting was a really sad place to be for those 5 days".[10]

She currently runs a home interior design business, WFord Interiors.

In 2019, Ford appeared on an E!'s reality show Flip It Like Disick.[11]

Personal life

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Ford (left) with Mike Modano (right)

Ford and hockey player Mike Modano married in a small, private ceremony on August 25, 2007, in Athens, Texas.[12][13] In August 2012, Ford and Modano announced that they were divorcing.[14]

In April 2015, Ford married former NFL linebacker Ryan Nece.[15] In March 2016, it was announced that the couple were expecting their first child.[16] On September 7, 2016, Ford gave birth to a son.[17]

Discography

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Albums

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List of studio albums, with selected chart positions, sales, and certifications
Title Album details Peaks
US
[18]
Willa Was Here
  • Released July 17, 2001
  • Label: Lava, Atlantic
  • Format: CD, digital download
 56

Singles

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Year Title Peak chart positions Album
US
[19] 		US
Dance
[20] 		US
Sales
[21] 		US
Pop
[22] 		US
Top 40
[23] 		US
R&R
[24][25] 		AUS
[26]
2001 "I Wanna Be Bad" 22 4 6 11 19 11 52 Willa Was Here
"Did Ya' Understand That" — — — — — — —
"Santa Baby (Gimme, Gimme, Gimme)" — — — — — — — MTV: TRL Christmas
2003 "A Toast to Men"
(featuring Lady May) 		— 11 45 — — 46 — Non-album singles
2004 "Sexy Sex Obsessive" — — — — — — —

Filmography

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Film

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Year Film Role Notes
2007 The Anna Nicole Smith Story Anna Nicole Smith
2008 Impulse Claire Dennison
2009 Friday the 13th Chelsea
2011 Universal Squadrons Becca
2014 The Nurse Lynette
2015 Any Day Cherry
Checkmate Sasha
2016 A Father's Secret/Hunt For Truth Kerry Evans TV film. Entitled Enquête sécrète in France.
Submerged Carla

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2001 The Mind of the Married Man Popstar
2002 I Bet You Will Host
Raising Dad Edie
The Morning After Host
Miss Teen USA Host
2003 Jimmy Kimmel Live! Guest appearance
2005 The Ultimate Fighter Host
2006 Lingerie Bowl III Celebrity Quarterback for the Dallas Desire
Calvin Ayre WildCard Poker Player
Dancing with the Stars Celebrity Dancer
Jimmy Kimmel Live! Guest appearance
Live with Regis and Kelly Guest appearance
2007 Pants Off Dance Off Host
Red Eye Guest Appearance
MTV Cribs Introduced her home
My Celebrity Home Introduced her home
2010 Chelsea Lately Guest appearance
2011 The Glades Shelby Adams Episode: "'shine"
2012 Magic City Janice Michaels 4 episodes
Leverage Tabatha Delavega Episode: "The Low Low Price Job"
2019 Flip It Like Disick Herself

Music videos

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Year Title Artist
2001 "I Wanna Be Bad" Herself
"Did Ya' Understand That"
"Santa Baby (Gimme, Gimme, Gimme)"
2002 "In a Little While" Uncle Kracker
2003 "A Toast to Men" Herself
2011 "Burn It Down" Awolnation

Other

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Television live performances
Television commercials
Events

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Willa Ford". MTV. Archived from the original on December 19, 2005. Retrieved August 7, 2012.
  2. ^ a b Kaplan, Ilana (July 25, 2017). "Willa Ford Explains Why She Left Music – And Teases a Possible Comeback". Billboard. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
  3. ^ "Rock Tonight- Willa Ford". Soundcloud.com. Retrieved June 9, 2018.
  4. ^ "Willa Ford: Biography". TV Guide. Retrieved August 7, 2012.
  5. ^ "Episode Detail: Willa Ford – My Celebrity Home". TV Guide. Retrieved May 25, 2013.
  6. ^ "Dreamfly Productions". Retrieved May 25, 2013.
  7. ^ "All Titles". Maverick Entertainment. Retrieved May 25, 2013.
  8. ^ Baldock, Luke Ryan (October 3, 2013). "Steven C. Miller To Direct 'Submerged'". Thehollywoodnews.com. Retrieved June 9, 2018.
  9. ^ "status-media". Statusmedia-ent.com. Retrieved June 9, 2018.
  10. ^ "Real nightmare on set of independent action film". BZFilm.com. April 25, 2014. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
  11. ^ "'Flip It Like Disick': Scott Disick and former pop star Willa Ford to star on new E! reality show". April 23, 2019.
  12. ^ Hall, Sarah (August 27, 2007). "Willa Ford Weds Hockey Beau". E!. Retrieved May 25, 2013.
  13. ^ Peppard, Alan (August 26, 2007). "Willa you? We do! CELEBRITY EVENT: Stars' Modano, actress-singer Ford wed in East Texas". The Dallas Morning News.
  14. ^ "Willa Ford and Husband to Divorce". People. August 7, 2012. Retrieved August 7, 2012.
  15. ^ Vanier, Jayme (October 8, 2015) "Willa Ford and Ryan Nece's Orange County Wedding".. Agoodaffair.com. Retrieved June 18, 2016.
  16. ^ Bacardi, Francesca (March 18, 2016). "Willa Ford Is Pregnant, Expecting First Child With Husband Ryan Nece". E!. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
  17. ^ "Willa Ford and Ryan Nece Welcome a Son". People. Retrieved June 9, 2018.
  18. ^ "Willa Fordy". Billboard.
  19. ^ Willa Ford - Billboard Hot 100 Chart History, retrieved November 26, 2020
  20. ^ Willa Ford - Dance Single Sales Chart History, retrieved November 26, 2020
  21. ^ "Willa Ford Hot Singles Sales". Billboard. Retrieved May 25, 2013.
  22. ^ Willa Ford - Mainstream Top 40 Chart History, retrieved November 26, 2020
  23. ^ "Willa Ford Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved May 25, 2013.
  24. ^ "Willa Ford – I Wanna Be Bad". Retrieved May 25, 2013.[dead link]
  25. ^ "Willa Ford – A Toast to Men". Retrieved May 25, 2013.[dead link]
  26. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 106.
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