Victoria Vesce is a quadruple hyphenate: Playboy Creator, travel blogger, social media queen, and soon to be breakout reality TV star on The Anonymous, which airs Mondays at 11pm on the USA Network. Victoria sat down with Playboy to discuss her aspirations, hanging out with elephants in Sri Lanka, and stirring up drama in front of the camera.
Playboy: To start us off, where were you born?
Victoria Vesce: I was born in Wilson, North Carolina, a really small town. I’m a small town girl at heart.
Playboy: What was the first thing you ever dreamed of achieving?
Victoria: Oh my goodness. I always wanted to be a model or like—be in the entertainment industry. I always had bigger dreams, being from a small town. And I remember, when I was a kid, I would make magazines and stuff.
I started getting into modeling when I was a teenager. I was bullied for it, because, in a small town like that, it was just something very weird to do, especially, in the early 2000s. It was definitely this dream, and I held on to it. “I’m going to do big things. I want to model, I want to I want to be in magazines, I want to be on TV.” Like, this is my dream!
And I want to keep pursuing it. It’s still been a long time coming, but everything’s finally coming to
fruition.
Playboy: You are a celebrated travel blogger. What’s been your favorite place you’ve ever traveled to?
Victoria: Oh, this is hard. I mean, there’s so many places that I love, but I will say one of my top places has been Sri Lanka. I volunteered with the Elephant Freedom Project, and that—I cried. I love elephants so much.
Being with the elephants in Sri Lanka was just a surreal experience. We’re like helping them, saving them from elephant tourism. Being a part of that, and just seeing how beautiful and majestic those creatures are. That has to be my favorite place so far.
And I’m hoping to help more animals on my further journeys. I’m planning on going to Africa. I’m really pumped about that.
Playboy: Where do you want to travel that you haven’t yet?
Victoria: I really want to go to Africa, in particular the Serengeti. I’m just an animal lover. I grew up on a farm, and animals were my friends before people were my friends, to be honest. [laughs]
I just have this big heart for animals, and protecting a wildlife and the environment, and being able to see—you know—lions in their natural habitat, not at the zoo. That’s just something that would be super special to me. So Africa has been at the top of my list even since I was a kid.
Playboy: What makes you happiest?
Victoria: I have to say my family, my dad, my brother, my dog. Those three in my life—they make me happier than anything else, especially after losing my mom. I have a great family, and I know not a lot of people can say that. I’m really blessed to have a supportive dad and supportive brother, and I had a supportive mom. Being around them makes me the happiest. Anytime I’m able to go home, or get a break and be able to be with them…that always rejuvenates my heart.
Playboy: What inspires you?
Victoria: Oh man. I mean…just the the way the world has unlimited possibilities. You can do anything you can set your mind on. You can do it. There’s a way to achieve it. For me, I had gone through my brain tumor journey and I found what was pretty much a second life for myself. Going through that trauma, and then I lost my mom a short period of time after… I just realized how life is so short, and life has endless possibilities.
So why not try it all? And so that’s like my motto. I want to be like this Renaissance woman that inspires. And it fuels me every day, not only to do the best for myself because I was given this second chance at
life. But I also want to be the motivation behind everything I do to honor my mom. She always was always like “Go big, or go home.”
Playboy: Describe your perfect day.
Victoria: First of all, I’m an early riser. I’m not a person who like stay up late, so I wake up early. My perfect day would be going to the beach here in West Palm Beach and watching the sunrise. Then I’ll have my coffee, do some meditation. I go to the gym. I cold plunge, I sauna. My gym is the best.
And then I just start my day. I start creating. I quit the corporate world, and now I just do full time social media and travel blogging. I start planning my trips. I have meetings with resorts. That may sound
mundane, but for me, it’s exciting, because this is the life I’ve created for myself. Then, you know, in between, take breaks. I play with my dog, go to the beach, play ball, go paddle boarding, stuff like that.
I’m a very active person, but then I like to settle down, maybe watch some Netflix, have some popcorn and then call it a night. That’s me. I’m not someone who crazy parties anymore.
Playboy: What food do you reach for when you’re feeling blue?
Victoria: I am a big popcorn girly. I love savory snacks. My whole pantry is filled with popcorn. Because anytime I’m just, in a mood, I like binge eat popcorn. I sprinkle some cheese on it. I try to make it like as gourmet as possible. Sometimes I put truffle oil on it.
Playboy: What do you obsess about?
Victoria: Finding peace within my life and maintaining that peace. It may sound kind of crazy, obsession and peace in the same sentence. But for me…I just have this obsession of always having peace in my life. Anything that brings me drama, I just I push out. I’ve had so much trauma, turmoil, toxic relationships, everything in between. This year has been such a peaceful year for me, and I’ve been so obsessed with it.
Playboy: Who was the first fictional character you fell in love with?
Victoria: Oh boy. Let’s think, oh, my gosh. This is funny. But I, I grew up watching Doug and the Rugrats and everything. But my first hardcore crush was Arnold from Hey Arnold. “Hey, football head.” I’ve always been attracted to, like, blonde hair guys. Someone completely opposite of me.
Playboy: What was the last thing you Googled?
Victoria: I went on Google and just went to Google Flights. And this is what I do all the time when I’m bored. “What’s a Google Flight from Miami?” I’m gonna explore some flights in October, thinking of where I want to go next.
Playboy: What quality do you think is most desirable in a person?
Victoria: I think it’s such a foundational quality but I really don’t see it anymore. Loyalty…in friendships, relationships, everything in between, it’s just so important. I’m so loyal, and I’ll do anything, and stand up for my friends because they’re my people. Even relationships, It’s just so important.
I feel like it’s become such a rare quality, Once I find someone I think is loyal and we’re in each other’s lives: You’re gonna stay here. You’re gonna stay there because you’re a real one.
Playboy: Can you touch on your upcoming appearance on The Anonymous?
Victoria: I come in as a surprise new player. I’m there to stir things up, shake things out. As a flirt. I feel like I’m channeling my old self who used to go on a lot of dates back in the day, when I was an NBA dancer, just living my best life.
I was just flirting with everyone, and just had I this Midas touch when it came to attracting people. So I decided to channel that energy for this show, because it’s all about manipulation which I’m not going to
lie—I’m really not good at. But somehow, I started to find a knack for it. It’ll be really interesting to see for the audience, to see my evolution on the show, but I feel like I come in the show pretty hot.
Playboy: How did you becoming a part of the show come about?
Victoria: I was asked by my friend. She was like “Hey, would you be interested being a part of a new show?
Playboy: No spoilers, of course, but can you give viewers a peek at what they can expect?
Victoria: Oh my gosh. Just just know when I enter: it’s gonna get messy. It’s gonna get messy. I definitely stir the pot. This all comes very surprising to me, becoming sort of a—you know— reality show wild card.
Playboy: Did that come natural to you?
Victoria: I never expected it! I feel like my mentality now is just so chill, and I’m not really like that in my real life. I’m not really one to bring drama, but I’m like, “You know what? This is a TV show. We got to do it big.” Like, I’ll be myself, but I’ll be an exaggerated version of myself. So that’s exactly what I did, and I just channeled 22 year-old Victoria, who was a savage.
The Anonymous is such an underrated show at the moment. Once you watch it, you’re gonna get hooked. There’s so many cliffhangers. “What the hell is happening?” It’s about to get more wild than anything you’ve ever seen. It’s a must-watch for the fall.
Victoria Vesce is on The Playboy Club. Talk to her now.
