Gimenez, who is of Argentinean descent, was born in the United States, but lived in Argentina, until she moved back to the United States at the age of six. She has one brother. Gimenez was discovered by photographer Bruce Weber one day at the age of 13, while she was enjoying an afternoon with her mother Nelida, and brother Dwight at the Santa Monica Pier. Webber thought the Gimenez, who "hadn’t really developed", as she recalls, would make a good model.
Career
Gimenez was the youngest model to grace the cover of American Elle. She also appeared in campaigns for Calvin Klein and Guess. In addition to her appearances on Sober House and Celebrity Rehab, Gimenez now makes appearances on Bravo's Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, as a friend of Brandi Glanville.
Addiction and sobriety
In becoming a professional model, Gimenez became her family's provider, though this soon brought pressures, such as being encouraged to take sick days from school in order to lose weight. She also spent up to five hours at the gym and starved herself in order to accomplish this, and this eventually led to substance abuse. Gimenez took her first drink at age 12, but eventually graduated to cocaine after she became a model. She began trying to quit drugs at age 21, but achieved only intermittent success over the course of the next 13 years. The sporadic nature of her sobriety changed when her mother and a friend convinced her to go to Las Encinas Hospital in Pasadena, California, where she came under the care of Dr. Drew Pinsky. Although she checked in for a five-day detox program, she ended up staying for nine and a half months. After finishing her treatment, she was taken aback when instructed to abstain from sex and relationships for a year, though she found that the 102 pounds she gained after quitting drugs facilitated this resolution, and allowed her to, as she put it, "find the inner foundation" that she had been denied when she became a working professional at age 14. During her View appearance, she stated that she was sober for "four years and a few months". Though Gimenez had never worked professionally in recovery, Drew Pinsky felt she was well-suited to the task of running the sober living facility depicted on Sober House, explaining, "Sober houses are often run by recently sober people. She was a tough patient that I thought could really relate to this group. And she’s an actress, so I thought it was a perfect match." Though Gimenez was surprised by the offer, and self-conscious about appearing on camera due to her weight, she accepted in order to further her own recovery process. Since the first season of the series, she lost 100 pounds, and returned to going from a size 16 back to a size 6. She became good friends with fellow recovering addict Andy Dick, and expressed the intent to resume acting. Gimenez has also worked as a rehab technician at the Pasadena Recovery Center, as seen on Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, beginning with that show's fifth season.
Personal life
Gimenez stated in a February 2009 interview that she was in relationship, and that her boyfriend was also a recovering addict. She made a guest appearance in the July 14, 2013 episode of Celebrity Wife Swap, in which her boyfriend, actor/comedian Andy Dick, and actor Lorenzo Lamas, swapped their wives. December 31st 2019 Jennifer married recovery advocate Tim Ryan.
