Michelle Hunziker

Michelle Hunziker
Michelle Hunziker on board the Royal Yacht Britannia in 2006
Born	Michelle Yvonne Hunziker (1977-01-24) 24 January 1977 (age 40) Sorengo, Switzerland
Nationality	Italian Swiss
Occupation	actress, singer, model, TV host
Years active	1994–present (model) 1996–present (TV host) 1998–present (actress) 2006–present (singer)

Michelle Yvonne Hunziker (German pronun­cia­tion: [miˈʃɛl ˈhʊntsɪkər], Italian: [miʃˈʃɛl ˈ(h)untsiker]; born 24 January 1977) is a Swiss-Dutch naturalized Italiantelevision hostess, actress, model and singer.

Hunziker was born in Sorengo (Lugano), in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland. Her mother Ineke is Dutch and her father Rudolf, who died of a heart attack in 2001, was a German-speaking Swiss. He was a painter, but worked as a hotel manager. In 1983, the family moved to Ostermundigen, a suburb of Bern in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. In Ostermundigen Hunziker attended elementary school. After moving to Milan with her mother, she decided to become a fashion model and was hired by Riccardo Gay, a renowned agent. Although considered to be both too heavy and short, at 17 she posed for well-known labels such as Armani, Rocco Barocco, La Perla, Colmar, Fuerte Ventura, Lovable and Swish.

Being Eros Ramazzotti's fiancée, she was discovered by an Italian 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 (Italia 1) 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.