[2] During her reign as Miss Universe, Machado gained what she said was about 12 pounds in weight,[5] drawing considerable press attention.

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 his partner on the program Fernando Acaso, when She was still engaged to Venezuelan baseball player Bob Abreu.

[10] 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.

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.

[13] 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).

[17] In 2021, Machado appeared as a contestant in the first season of the reality television series La casa de los famosos.

[12] In July 2015, after Donald Trump launched his presidential campaign, Machado announced that she would publish a book detailing what she called his "abuses of power" and "racism".

[20] Machado has repeatedly called Trump a "nazi rat", compared him to Hugo Chavez and Adolf Hitler, and said that he was capable of starting a new Holocaust.

The following day, Trump responded on Fox and Friends, describing Machado as "impossible" and saying that "she gained a massive amount of weight and it was a real problem.

[32] John Cassidy of The New Yorker wrote that Trump's "original comments about Machado reeked of sexism and racism" while his subsequent series of tweets "highlighted, anew, his impulsiveness and lack of discipline.

The controversy caused a media sensation in Venezuela unseen since the conviction of President Carlos Andres Perez.

[50] In June 2019 in statements to the Hispanic show business program, Suelta la sopa, she talked about her bisexuality, claiming to have had girlfriends.