Machado won the 1995 Miss Maracay pageant, The runner-up,
Jacqueline Aguilera, also won the
Miss World 1995 crown, marking the second time that two Venezuelans from the same pageant won two world titles. Machado's reign came as American businessman
Donald Trump took ownership of the Miss Universe pageant. While preparing for Miss Universe, Machado underwent intense dieting. Machado said that, when she won, she weighed and was anorexic and bulimic. drawing considerable press attention. The President of Miss Universe Organization denied that the organization was considering replacing her with runner-up, Taryn Mansell of Aruba. In 1998, Machado had her first starring
telenovela role as the title character in
Samantha. In 2001, she had a small role on the international soap opera
Secreto de Amor. During 2004–2005, she pursued a career as a TV commercial model with particular success in promoting a dieting product. In 2005, Machado appeared on a Spanish reality show called
La Granja de los celebrities, whose participation generated headlines in the press in Spain, Mexico, Miami and Venezuela, for having sex in front of the cameras with her partner on the program, Fernando Acaso, while still engaged to Venezuelan baseball player
Bob Abreu. On February 19, 2006, Machado debuted on the Mexican reality show
Cantando por un sueño ("Singing for a Dream"). Machado appeared in (and on the cover of) the February 2006 issue of
Playboy magazine's Mexican edition, becoming the only Miss Universe to pose nude for that magazine. Machado was cast in the comedic soap opera
Una familia con suerte where she played a woman who fell in love with her brother's enemy. The show began airing in Mexico in February 2011 and in the United States in October of that same year. She again posed nude for the July 2010 issue of the Mexican edition of
Playboy. On September 9, 2012, Machado was one of ten competitors on the third season of
Mira quién baila. On November 18, 2012, Alicia won third place in the third season of
Univision's dance competition
Mira quién baila. In 2013, Machado starred as the protagonist of
La Madame, a television serial produced by RTI Productions and RCN TV in Colombia. In February 2014, she joined Univision's beauty pageant
Nuestra Belleza Latina 2014 as a mentor where she coach the participants on how to succeed in the modeling and television industry. In 2017, she posed nude for
PETA's "I'd Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur," ad campaign. In 2019, she was part of the cast of the play Divinas, she also participated in the Latin movie,
He matado a mi marido ("I have killed my husband"). In 2021, she competed in the Colombian version of the
MasterChef Celebrity. On May 23, 2021, she premiered her celebrity interview show Whats Up Alicia, produced by Machado. It will initially be broadcast in Venezuela, through
Venevisión, to later be launched in other countries in Latin America such as Mexico, and the United States. In 2021, Machado appeared as a contestant in the
first season of the reality television series
La casa de los famosos. She went on to win the competition with 40,586,129 votes. Subsequently, she appeared in the second and fifth seasons as a panelist on Sunday episodes, providing commentary on the events that took place throughout the week. In 2025, Machado joined Telemundo's beauty pageant
Miss Universe Latina, el reality as a captain of Team Emerald, guiding the contestants based on her own experience. == Involvement in politics ==