Before Lauren Sanchez became an Emmy-award winning journalist, traversed outer space, or was engaged to billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, she was known to her friends and family as simply 'Wendy.'

The high school cheerleader was always destined to make it big, those who lived in her hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico, told the Daily Mail.

Now, she's set to marry one of the richest men in the world in a lavish ceremony held in Venice, Italy, with an estimated cost of $15 million to $20 million.

It's believed the couple will tie the knot surrounded by A-list celebrities, politicians and world-leading businessmen. Rumored guests include Orlando Bloom and Katy Perry, Kris Jenner, Kim Kardashian, and Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump.

Bezos, Sanchez and their immediate families will reportedly stay on the tech entrepreneur's $500 million superyacht Koru. Meanwhile, the less than 200 guests will be split between five-star hotels Hotel Cipriani and Aman Venice nearby.

The ritzy event will also call for beefed-up security, closed streets, monitored airspace and a strong police presence – which has already set off protests from furious locals who say their home is being 'held hostage' by the 'richest and most dangerous man in the world.'

In March 2023, the 61-year-old Amazon mogul popped the question to the 55-year-old former news correspondent aboard his yacht Koru. After five years together, Bezos proposed to Sanchez with a cushion-cut pink diamond ring, estimated between 20 and 30 carats and worth upwards of $2.5 million. 

But Sanchez's star-studded nuptials are a far cry from her humble beginnings as a third-generation Mexican-American and the youngest child of three, who was only seven when her parents divorced. 

Lauren Sanchez (left) and Jeff Bezos (right) are set to wed next weekend during a lavish wedding ceremony in Venice, Italy

The nuptials are believed to take place in front of 200 guests, with some A-listers staying at the Hotel Cipriani in Venice (seen) for the festivities

Rumored attendees include Sanchez's famous pals Kim Kardashian (left), Eva Longoria (center right), and Kris Jenner (right)

Wendy Lorraine Sanchez was born on December 19, 1969, in Albuquerque. Coincidentally, she was born at the same hospital where Bezos was also born just six years prior, though he was raised between Houston, Texas, and Miami, Florida.

Her mother, Eleanor, was clerk of the city council, while her father, Ray, worked as a flight instructor and mechanic who helped rebuild planes. In fact, it was her dad's profession that helped encourage Sanchez's own passion for aviation.

'I was always in the hangar growing up but knew nothing about flying,' she told the Hollywood Reporter in 2017.

After her parents' divorce, Sanchez continued to live in Albuquerque with her mother, while her father later remarried.

Her paternal half-sister, Elena Sanchez Blair, has since become one of Sanchez's closest confidantes, despite their 13-year age gap, and she's often been described by Sanchez as her 'best friend' and the 'second mother to her children.'

She was even present for Sanchez's three-day bachelorette trip to Paris, France, in May.

Speaking to Elle in 2024, Sanchez revealed that her 'biggest regret' was 'not being able to speak fluent Spanish' because her mom didn't want her to have an accent.

Sanchez shares glimpse of her primary school yearbook, revealing that she once went by the name 'Wendy Sanchez'

The former journalist, 55, posed with her father Ray Sanchez outside her humble childhood home in Albuquerque, New Mexico

One of Sanchez's closest confidantes is her younger half-sister, Elena Sanchez Blair (left), who attended the three-day bachelorette trip to Paris, France

'The one thing I think I really missed out on is my grandmother, Elsie, and mother spoke Spanish all the time,' she said.

While growing up, Sanchez spent considerable time with her grandmother Elsie, who was credited by Sanchez as being one of the hardest workers she's ever seen.

'She was a housekeeper, and she was a manager at a restaurant. She let me work there every once in a while. I got my work ethic from her. My mom also worked extremely hard, so I would spend the night at my grandmother's a lot,' she told Elle.

Sanchez also recalled sleeping in the back of Elsie's car at five in the morning while she cleaned houses, and pouring coffee for customers at the restaurant all before she had to go to school.

She recently shared a glimpse on Instagram at the modest childhood home where she spent some of her childhood, as she posed with her father in front of the quaint yellow one-story house.

However, according to a recent report from The Times, Sanchez actually lived with her mom in the middle-class Albuquerque suburb of Academy Acres and later Rio Grande Estates, another affluent neighborhood.

She attended Our Lady of Fatima Catholic School in Albuquerque for primary school and Del Norte High School, where she was known around campus as a bubbly varsity cheerleader.

Sanchez was on the varsity cheerleading team at Del Norte High School in Albuquerque. She graduated in 1987

Photographer Kim Jew, who took Sanchez's senior portraits in 1987, described her to the Daily Mail as 'fun' and 'very easy to photograph'

A fellow Del Norte classmate wrote on Facebook that Sanchez was 'kind of ditsy, but funny'

In yearbook photos obtained by the Daily Mail, Sanchez was the quintessential picture of the all-American girl next door, with her teased black locks and sporty cheerleading uniform.

For senior superlatives, she was voted 'Biggest Flirt' out of her nearly 500-person graduating class. 

And she was pictured canoodling with fellow classmate and high school football star Ian Smelser, like something akin to the main character in a teen rom-com film directed by John Hughes.

Kim Jew, a portrait photographer based in Albuquerque, remembered Sanchez visiting his studio in 1987 when she posed for her senior portraits. 

While the negatives from the photoshoot are long gone, the memory of Sanchez's presence in his studio has never left him.

'I really remember her vividly,' he told the Daily Mail, describing Sanchez as 'fun' and 'very easy to photograph.'

'She just had, I guess, charisma and beauty,' said Jew, who was 35 at the time. 'I first thought when I photographed her that this girl is going to be famous one day.'

Her classmates recalled a similar story. In a Facebook post shared by a Del Norte alumnus named Brad, he described Sanchez – or Wendy – as 'kind of ditsy, but funny.'

In high school, she had dreams of becoming a newscaster but believed she wouldn't be successful due to her dyslexia

Sanchez, pictured on the left, was voted 'Biggest Flirt' for senior superlatives out of her 500-person graduating class

Sanchez was pictured canoodling with fellow classmate and high school football star Ian Smelser

'When she laughed, she'd snort at times. I always liked her,' he wrote.

Her striking beauty also led her to compete in pageants as a teenager. In unseen photos published by the Daily Mail, Sanchez was seen competing in the Miss Hawaiian Tropic beauty pageant in Albuquerque sometime between 1988 and 1989.

'Lauren was about 18 or 19 years old at the time,' a source previously told the Daily Mail. 'She won the local competition, which is why she's standing in the middle in that photo.

'I remember her to be really nice. Very polite.'

The snaps showed a young Sanchez standing in the center in a sea of women and posing in a dazzling blue bikini. She was crowned winner out of about 30 contestants, and later went on to win the Models World Magazine Cover Girl Competition in 1990.

Linda McNatt, who worked at Plaza 3 modeling agency in Phoenix, Arizona, also wrote on Facebook that Sanchez was signed to the agency where she worked.

'She was both cute and beautiful, and was sweet as well as driven to be successful,' McNatt said.

Brad and Linda did not respond to the Daily Mail's requests for comment.

The then-college student (center, in blue) was participating in the Miss Hawaiian Tropic beauty contest in her hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico

 A source previously told the Daily Mail he remembers Sanchez (in blue) being 'really nice' and 'very polite'

While Sanchez longed to be a newscaster from early on, she doubted she could ever be successful due to her struggle with dyslexia.

Sanchez has opened up about her experience with dyslexia in the past, noting that it made her feel 'dumb' and she always 'sat in the back of the class.'

'I was quiet and they pushed me along in public school,' she reflected on Good Morning America in September. 'It was horrible.'

Upon graduating high school in 1987, Sanchez instead set her sights on becoming a flight attendant.

At 18, she moved to Los Angeles to apply for a job as a stewardess with Southwest Airlines. During the interview process, she was forced to stand on a scale – a standard practice for flight attendants at the time – and she was ultimately turned away for being 'too big,' despite only weighing just over 120 pounds.

'Back then, they weighed you, and I weighed 121 pounds,' she recalled to the Wall Street Journal. 'They said, 'You need to be 115.'

Unsure of where to turn, a heartbroken Sanchez decided to go back to school and enrolled at El Camino College in Torrance, California. It was there that she rediscovered her love for journalism after her professor, Lori Medigovich, encouraged her to get tested for dyslexia.

'I cry every time I tell this story,' Sanchez told the WSJ.

Sanchez, seen in 1999, enrolled at El Camino College in Torrance, California, and later transferred to University of Southern California in 1992. She left college in 1994

Sanchez (seen in 2003) quickly rose through the ranks as a reporter, starting at a small news outlet in Phoenix, Arizona, before moving to Extra, followed by Fox Sports Net and Good Day LA

Medigovich assured Sanchez that she wasn't dumb and gave her a pocket dictionary, which Sanchez kept with her at all times.

'It changed my life. I went from barely a 2.0 [GPA] student to the dean's list and got a scholarship to [University of Southern California].'

In 1992, she transferred to USC and began interning at KCOP-TV in Los Angeles. She left college in 1994 to pursue her career as a reporter full-time after she was offered a job at KTVK in Phoenix.

In the years that followed, she moved around quite a bit – working briefly for Extra before heading to Fox Sports Net. Around that time, she also auditioned for a seat on The View. When she didn't get the part, she admitted it was one of the 'most devastating days of her life.'

Sanchez then went on to host Good Day LA in 2003, where she worked for six years. She also obtained her pilot's license and, in 2016, founded Black Ops Aviation – an aerial production company.

But Sanchez took a step back from the spotlight to focus on her family. Long before she met Bezos, Sanchez was in a relationship with NFL tight end Tony Gonzalez. They welcomed a son, named Nikko Gonzalez, together in 2002 before splitting.

Her list of exes and called-off engagements also featured a slew of star-studded names, athletes, and the head of a massive talent agency.

One of her earliest boyfriends was Gavin Maloof, who came from one of the richest families in Albuquerque and dated Sanchez when she was 19 and he was 13 years her senior.

Sanchez welcomed her first child, son Nikko, with then-boyfriend Tony Gonzalez in 2002

Sanchez and former NFL tight end Tony Gonzalez split shortly after welcoming their son Nikko. The co-parents are seen celebrating Nikko's college graduation in June 2024

Sanchez looked glamorous in a cut-out sparkling red gown as she shared an Instagram birthday tribute for her son Nikko in February 2024

She went on to date sports broadcaster Rory Markas, who she met when she landed her internship during college. The two even got engaged, but according to Page Six, she ultimately dumped Rory after she switched jobs.

Sanchez then started dating NFL star Anthony Miller, after the two met at the 1996 Super Bowl when he was playing for the Denver Broncos and she was a rising TV reporter. The pair were together for four years and engaged for nearly two, before Miller claimed that Sanchez broke things off.

He spoke about their romance – as well as their split – exclusively to the Daily Mail back in January 2019, alleging that Sanchez had cheated on him. However, sources close to Sanchez disputed his claims and insisted that it was Miller who was unfaithful.

Her first marriage was to Endeavor talent agency co-founder Patrick Whitesell; the two walked down the aisle in 2005. They welcomed a son, Evan Whitesell, in 2006 and a daughter, Eleanor Whitesell, in 2008.

But it was her headline-grabbing affair with Bezos, which was brought to light in early 2019, that ended her decade-long marriage.

Her romance with the Amazon founder was exposed by the National Enquirer in January 2019. At the time, Bezos was also married to his now ex-wife, Mackenzie Scott.

Soon after it was revealed, the billionaire businessman divorced his wife of more than 25 years and the mother of his four children, while Sanchez left Whitesell.

The bombshell report from the Enquirer claimed that Bezos and Sanchez had been involved in an eight-month affair, which involved him 'whisking his mistress off to exotic destinations on his $65 million private jet, sending her raunchy messages and erotic selfies, and having secret rendezvous at palatial private estates.'

Sanchez's first marriage was to Endeavor talent agency co-founder Patrick Whitesell; the two walked down the aisle in 2005

The former couple (seen in 2011) welcomed a son, Evan Whitesell, in 2006 and a daughter, Eleanor Whitesell, in 2008

Patrick Whitesell and Sanchez pictured with Bezos in December 2016, less than three years after their affair was exposed

The outlet said it had tracked them 'across five states and 40,000 miles, tailing them in private jets, swanky limos, helicopter rides, romantic hikes, five-star hotel hideaways, intimate dinner dates and 'quality time' in hidden love nests.'

Following the Enquirer's accusations, Bezos fired back by writing a lengthy essay to the publication's CEO, David Pecker, in which the mogul accused the company of blackmailing him and threatening to publish nude photos of him.

Things took a turn, however, when Sanchez's family became involved in the scandal.

When Bezos began investigating who leaked his photos and texts to the tabloid, Michael Sanchez – his girlfriend's now-estranged brother – was named as a lead suspect by Bezos.

Michael denied the accusation that he had provided nude photos to the tabloid, but didn't specifically deny leaking text messages between his sister and Bezos.

'I'm not saying I didn't do something,' he admitted to Vanity Fair in 2019, but said his only goal was to protect his sister and Bezos' relationship.

Michael followed up with a defamation lawsuit against Bezos, claiming he had falsely accused him of providing the nude photos to the Enquirer. In November 2020, Los Angeles County Superior Court ruled in favor of Bezos's motion to dismiss Michael's defamation suit.

According to The Times, Michael said he has not seen his sister since 2019 and not spoken to her since 2020. He told the outlet that neither him nor their mother Eleanor are invited to Sanchez's wedding.

Sanchez and Bezos' affair was revealed in January 2019 in a bombshell reporter from The National Enquirer

The couple were engaged in March 2023 after five years together. Bezos proposed with a cushion-cut pink diamond ring, estimated between 20 and 30 carats 

Sanchez's wedding to Bezos is estimated to cost upwards of $20 million, a far cry from her humble beginnings in New Mexico

Indeed, the upcoming nuptials are sure to be a ceremony of epic proportions.

A source previously revealed to the Daily Mail that the Amazon boss has booked the Scuola Grande della Misericordia, one of the largest and grandest buildings in the historical center of Venice, as part of the multi-day-long extravaganza of celebrations.

Bezos's superyacht, the Koru, will be moored off the coast of San Georgio Maggiore island – home to the famous Basilica of San Giorgio Maggiore, a 16th century Benedictine church.

Plus, around 60 of Venice's water taxis have been reserved for the week, with some of the 400 gondolas on the island out of commission as well.

While spectators are split as to whether San Georgio Maggiore island or Bezos's superyacht will serve as the wedding venue, it's clear the couple have covered all their bases across the Italian city.

For young girls growing up in Albuquerque, few would ever dream of the opulent lifestyle that Sanchez has built for herself. 

But if there's anything to be learned about this high school cheerleader and pageant queen turned wife of a billionaire mogul, it's that she never had a shadow of a doubt that this would be her destined path.