Profile of Michelle Hunziker on Famous Like Me

Michelle Hunziker (born January 24, 1977), is a Swiss actress, model and a famous personality on Italian television.

How everything started

Michelle was born on January 24, 1977 in Sorengo, a suburb of Lugano in the southern, Italian speaking part of Switzerland. Her mother Ineke is Dutch, her father Rudolf was Swiss German. He was a painter, but he worked as a hotel boss (he died of a heart attack in fall 2001). In 1983, the whole family including Michelle's brother Harold moved to Ostermundigen, a suburb of Berne in the German speaking part of Switzerland, where Michelle attended the elementary school. After her parents' separation Michelle's mother moved to Zuchwil/Solothurn and her parents got divorced. This was one of the hardest moments in Michelle's life, and she fell in a crisis. In 1993, when Michelle was 16 years old, she moved to Bologna with her mother who had fallen in love with an Italian. Michelle continued to realize her dream: she wanted to become an interpreter. Therefore she attended an Italian highschool where she studied Italian, French, German, English and Dutch. After having moved to Milan with her mother, she wanted to become a fashion model. She knocked at the door of one of the most famous agencies in town and was assumed by Riccardo Gay, one of the most renowed agents. Although she was too corpulent and too short, she posed for well known labels such as Armani, Rocco Barocco, La Perla, Colmar, Fuerte Ventura, Lovable and Swish when she was 17 years old. Michelle could also be seen on a poster where she was wearing nothing than g-string. Italians are convinced that Michelle is "la donna col sederino più erotico" (the woman with the most erotic ass).

Her first TV-shows

Since she was Eros Ramazzotti's fiancé (who is a well known Italian singer), she was discovered by a TV-producer. In 1996, she co-hosted the RAI Uno-show "I cervelloni" with Paolo Bonolis. In summer she presented the prime time comedy show "Paperissima Sprint" (Canale 5) with Gabibbo. Because of her popularity she hosted the afternoon show "Colpo di Fulmine" (Italia1) in 1997. At the same time she wanted to extend her artistic abilities. Therefore she attended the professional academy M.A.S. in Milan with her choreographer Susanna Beltrami.

Michelle as an actress

In 1998, the Italian film director Vincenzo Verdecchi offered Michelle her first film role in the TV series "La Forza dell'Amore" (Canale 5). After she assumed the female main role in "Fammi stare sotto al letto". She can also be seen in the documentary film "The Protagonist" and in another film, "Alex l'Ariete", where she acted with ex ski star Alberto Tomba. Then she co-hosted with Pippo Baudo the Canale 5 show "La festa del Disco". From 1999-2001 she presented the late night show "Nonsolomoda" (Canale 5) where she reported about fashion and lifestyle.

Back home again

In 1999, TV3, the first Swiss private television station, was founded in Zürich, and Michelle presented a show called "Cinderella", where a hair and make-up artist as well as a styling adviser helped both a prominent person and a viewer of the program to get a new look. After the first episode, Michelle was caught in the crossfire. The Swiss newspaper Blick even wrote: "Cinderella, TV3's new lifestyle show is not bad. It is catastrophic." Later, Michelle was interviewed by the Swiss German magazine Schweizer Illustrierte and she told that she couldn't speak German anymore after having lived in Italy for many years. After TV3 had changed the concept, the show became more popular.

German TV

After having hosted the Swiss show "Cinderella", Michelle was discovered by German TV producers. In 1998, she presented the awarding of the "Goldene Kamera" with Thomas Gottschalk (a very well known presenter in Germany). A year later, she co-hosted the show "Michael Jackson & Friends" (ZDF) in Munich. After having attended different talk shows, she presented her first show in Germany: "Erstes Glück" (SWR/Das Erste). She co-hosted the show with Thomas Elstner and interviewed prominent people about their first love. The show wasn't very popular though, and was finally suspended. When she got back to Italy, she presented the shows "Donna sotto le stelle" and "Piazza di Spagna" (Canale 5) with Gerry Scotti and "Tacchi a Spillo" (Italia1) with Claudio Lippi.

Italian TV Oscar

In 2001, Michelle co-hosted the Italian comedy shows Zelig (Italia1) and Scherzi a parte (Canale5). Zelig is one of the most famous Italian TV shows and became popular because of Michelle's presentation. Later that year, she got the Italian TV Oscar in the category "Discovery of the year". Besides, she co-hosted the famous Italian open air music show "Festivalbar" with Daniele Bossari and Alessia Marcuzzi.

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