Mélissa Theuriau (; born 18 July 1978) is a French journalist and
news anchor
A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...
for M6. She studied journalism and became a television news presenter. She is the former anchor and co-editor in chief of '' Zone interdite'' on French TV.
Early career
Theuriau obtained a DUT in News-Communication from the Technical University (
Institut universitaire de technologie
The University Institutes of Technology or IUT (french: Instituts Universitaires de Technologie) are parts of the university system in France. The IUT were created in 1966. There are 108 IUTs which are attached to 80 universities including the o ...
, or IUT)
Pierre Mendès-France
Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...
in Grenoble, and later a master's degree in Audiovisual Journalism from the Institute of Communication and Media (ICM) at
Échirolles
Échirolles (; frp, Ècherôles) is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. Part of the Grenoble urban unit (agglomeration),La Chaîne Info, where she became better known to the French general public. She made her breakthrough as a newscaster and travel show host for LCI, the news channel and for TF1. Her programs were ''LCI Matin'' (LCI Morning), the 6:40 news on LCI and TF1 from Monday to Thursday and the ''Voyages'' travel show on Wednesdays at 13:55 on LCI. In May 2006, she surprised the management of TF1 by refusing the offer to be the anchorwoman of the weekend evening news of TF1, as a summer replacement for sitting anchorwoman
Claire Chazal
Claire Chazal () (born 1 December 1956) is a French journalist, romance writer, and former director of news at a national television station, France 2.
She had been the weekend news anchor at TF1 beginning in 1991, and gave her final broadcast at ...
.
M6/Zone Interdite
In June 2006,
Métropole 6
M6 (), also known as , is the most profitable private national French public television channel and the third most watched television network in the French-speaking world. M6 is the head channel of the M6 Group media empire that owns several TV ...
, another French television channel, announced her arrival for September as editor-in-chief and presenter of '' Zone Interdite'' ("Forbidden Zone"), a weekly magazine show featuring investigative reporting.
She also presents ''Un jour, une Photo'' and ''Deux, trois jours avec moi'' on the French TV channel
Paris Première
Paris Première is a French public TV channel, available on cable, satellite and the digital terrestrial service, Télévision Numérique Terrestre. It was launched on 15 December 1986 and is now wholly owned by the Groupe M6.
Programming
...
, in partnership with
Paris Match
''Paris Match'' () is a French-language weekly news magazine. It covers major national and international news along with celebrity lifestyle features.
History and profile
A sports news magazine, ''Match l'intran'' (a play on '' L'Intransigeant ...
. ''Un jour, une photo'' features stories behind iconic and historic photos. ''Deux, trois jours avec moi'' is a weekly travel programme in which an invited guest reveals more about him or herself during a trip.
In September 2006, she was appointed co-editor in chief and anchor of the influential TV magazine ''Zone interdite'' ("Forbidden Zone") on M6. She will stay there for 6 years, until August 29, 2012, the date of her last show (she will present this show barefoot)
Charity
In March 2007, she launched, with five other journalists (
Claire Chazal
Claire Chazal () (born 1 December 1956) is a French journalist, romance writer, and former director of news at a national television station, France 2.
She had been the weekend news anchor at TF1 beginning in 1991, and gave her final broadcast at ...
,
Marie Drucker
Marie Drucker (born 3 December 1974) is a French journalist, author, television and radio personality.
Early life
The daughter of Jean Drucker, a French television executive, and a niece of Michel Drucker, a television journalist, she was educa ...
,
Laurence Ferrari
Laurence Ferrari ( ; born 5 July 1966) is a French journalist, best known as a former anchor of the TF1 weekday evening news ''Le 20H''."À TF1, Laurence Ferrari va remplacer Patrick Poivre d’Arvor", ''Le Monde'', Guy DutheiLemonde.frRetrieved ...
,
Béatrice Schönberg
Béatrice Schönberg (née Béatrice Szabo; 9 May 1953) is a French television journalist.
She anchored the newscasts on La Cinq from 1987 to 1992 and on France 2 from 1997 to 2007.
She was formerly married to the musician and composer Claude-M ...
, and Tina Kieffer), the organization “La Rose”, which works with
UNICEF
UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to c ...
to help educate girls.
In popular culture
Mélissa Theuriau has become an internet phenomenon, with fans uploading video compilationsMelissa Theuriau Compilation Video the video, entitled "Beautiful News Reporter", that made her an internet phenomenon. receiving millions of hits from admirers. Theuriau is reportedly surprised by this phenomenon, stating, "I cannot explain it... I am absolutely not seeking this publicity."
In 2006, the ''
Daily Express
The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet ...
'' voted her the world's most beautiful news reporter. She was similarly voted "TV's sexiest news anchor" by readers of the US edition of ''
Maxim
Maxim or Maksim may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Maxim'' (magazine), an international men's magazine
** ''Maxim'' (Australia), the Australian edition
** ''Maxim'' (India), the Indian edition
*Maxim Radio, ''Maxim'' magazine's radio channel on Sir ...
''. In May 2007, she was voted most beautiful woman in the world in the French edition of ''
FHM
''FHM'' (For Him Magazine) is a British multinational men's lifestyle magazine that was published in several countries. Its master edition contained features such as the ''FHM'' 100 Sexiest Women in the World, which has featured models, actres ...
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...
'', March 24, 2007.
In 2006, '' Voici'', a French tabloid, published pictures showing her topless at a beach. Her lawyers are reportedly attempting to purge these images from the Internet.
In 2010, scam websites co-opted a photograph of her to promote health treatments, the ubiquitous "1 weird old tip" belly fat diets, and penny auctions, unauthorized usage of which Theuriau was initially unaware.
Personal life
On 29 March 2008, she was engaged to French-Moroccan comedian and actor Jamel Debbouze; the two were married on 7 May 2008. They had a son on 3 December 2008 named Léon and a daughter named Lila in 2011.