Gabrielle Reece (born January 6, 1970) is a professional volleyball player and former fashion model. Reece was born on the island of Trinidad of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, and lived with friends while growing up. This was at least partially due to her mother leaving when Reece was three years old.
During high school, Reece excelled at basketball and played volleyball on the side. Many colleges started recruiting her because of her abilities in sports. She decided to accept an offer from Florida State University (FSU) when they offered her a volleyball scholarship where she also majored in communications. She led the league in kills four times and blocks once. Florida State inducted Reece into the Florida State University Athletics Hall of Fame. Since then she has played for years on professional volleyball tours.
Before graduating from FSU, Reece started modeling. She has appeared on the covers of several magazines including Shape, Women's Sports & Fitness, Outside, ELLE, and Life. She also appeared on the cover of Playboy, with an accompanying pictorial, in January 2001. While an Elite model, she could command a per day rate of US$10,000.
Outside of volleyball, she published an autobiography, co-written with Karen Karbo, entitled Big Girl in the Middle. Reece also writes a column for Women's Sports & Fitness magazine. In November 1997, she married surfer Laird Hamilton. They have one child together, daughter Reece Viola Hamilton, who was born in October 2003.
Reece's height is 6 ft 3 in (190.5 cm) and her measurements are 36-24-35, according to Celebrity Sleuth magazine. She claims in her book to wear size 11 shoes.
