Yehonatan Kashanian (born 15 January 1981), known professionally as Jonathan Kashanian, is an Israeli–Italian television personality and actor.

Biography

Kashanian was born in

Ramat Gan Ramat Gan (, ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located east of the municipality of Tel Aviv, and is part of the Gush Dan, Gush Dan metropolitan area. It is home to a Diamond Exchange District (one of the world's major diamond exch ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, the son of Iranian Jewish parents, and grandson of Uzbekistani grandparents, who emigrated to

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

when he was three years old. In the early 2000s he chose the path of fashion; after graduating as a designer, he worked between fashion shows and showrooms.

Career

In 2004, on

Canale 5 Canale 5 () is an Italian free-to-air television channel of Mediaset, owned by MFE - MediaForEurope. It was the first private television network to have national coverage in Italy in 1980. On 4 December 2012, Mediaset launched Canale 5 HD, a ...

, Kashanian participated in the fifth edition of

Grande Fratello ''Grande Fratello'' (also known by the acronym ''GF'') is the Italian version of the reality television franchise '' Big Brother''. Begun in September 2000, it has gone on to become a cultural phenomenon in Italy. There have been twenty-two comp ...

and won the reality show with 38% of the vote. In 2005 he was in the jury of Sei un mito on

. For three years (2005-08), Kashanian was a host of ''Modeland'', a fashion segment on . From 2006 to 2016 he appeared on Verissimo, first as a regular guest, then later as an envoy, columnist, fashion expert, stylist and makeover designer. In 2007 he takes part in the film by 2061: An Exceptional Year. He moved to

La7 La7 is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned by Cairo Communication. Cairo Communication acquired it from Telecom Italia Media, itself owned by Telecom Italia, in 2013. La7 features a generalist programming schedule, primarily ...

as a commentator on Pietro Chiambretti's talkshow, ''Markette - Tutto fa brodo in TV'', which was succeeded in 2009 by on

Italia 1 Italia 1 (Italian pronunciation ) is an Italian free-to-air television channel on the Mediaset network, owned by MFE - MediaForEurope. It is aimed at both a young adult and adult audience. Italia 1 was launched on 3 January 1982 and, was or ...

. In 2010 he participated in a cameo in the film ''A Natale mi sposo'' directed by

Paolo Costella Paolo Costella (born 19 February 1964) is an Italian screenwriter and film director. He contributed to more than sixteen films since 1987. Selected filmography References External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Costella, Paolo 1964 births L ...

. In 2018 he participated as a contestant in the thirteenth edition of ''

L'isola dei famosi ''L'isola dei famosi'' (; Italian for ''The Celebrity Island'' or ''The island of the famous'') is an Italian Reality television, reality show, first aired on Rai 2 in 2003, before moving to Canale 5 in 2015. This program is the Italian ''Survivor ...

'', hosted by

Alessia Marcuzzi Alessia Marcuzzi (born 11 November 1972) is an Italian television host, actress and former fashion model. In a career spanning over 30 years, she also co-hosted Sanremo Music Festival 2025. Career Born in Rome, to father Eugenio, from Trieste, ...

and aired on Canale 5, ranking fifth, being eliminated with 70% of the votes. He is currently a radio host for

RTL 102.5 RTL 102.5 is a private Italian radio station. Despite its name, this radio station is not endorsed or affiliated with RTL Group (it is owned by Lorenzo Suraci, and RTL is an acronym of (''Lombardy Radio Broadcasting''), the original name of this s ...

. In 2022 he participated in Back to School, a program hosted by

Nicola Savino Nicola Savino (born 14 November 1967) is an Italian radio host, television presenter, television writer, radio director, actor, record producer and impersonator. Biography Nicola Savino was born in Lucca on 14 November 1967 to an engineer fathe ...

. In the same year, he was among the jurors of

Miss Italia Miss Italia is a beauty pageant awarding prizes every year to young, female contestants from Italy. Since the first edition of the contest, in 1939, many of the contestants have gone on to notable careers in television and film. History Early ...

and co-hosted the final night of ''Una voce per San Marino'', a national final to select the Sammarinese representative at the

Eurovision Song Contest 2022 The Eurovision Song Contest 2022 was the 66th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Turin, Italy, following the country's victory at the with the song "" by Måneskin. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and h ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kashanian, Jonathan 1981 births Living people People from Ramat Gan Italian people of Israeli descent Italian people of Iranian descent Italian people of Uzbekistani descent Israeli people of Iranian-Jewish descent Israeli people of Uzbekistani descent Israeli television personalities Italian television personalities 21st-century Israeli male actors 21st-century Italian male actors Big Brother (franchise) contestants Big Brother (franchise) winners