Ria Antoniou (, ; born 14 July 1988) is a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

model and beauty pageant titleholder. In her career she became the winner of ''Miss Peloponnese 2007'' and of ''

Star Hellas Star Hellas () is a national beauty pageant in Greece. The Star Hellas, Miss Hellas, Miss Young title is a trademark for Vassilis Prevelakis and Associates E.E. George Prevelakis, the founder of the company, was the driving force behind the He ...

– Miss Earth Greece 2008'', the runner-up in ''Sexiest Woman Alive 2008'', the 2nd runner-up in ''

Miss Model of the World Miss Model of the World is an international model contest organized for the first time in Istanbul, Turkey in 1988 with 42 countries participating. Recent titleholders List of runners-up Miss Model off the World Continental Models See a ...

2007''. She was also the "official Greek representative from

" in ''

Miss Earth 2008 Miss Earth 2008 was the eighth edition of the Miss Earth pageant, held at the Clark Expo Amphitheater in Angeles City, Philippines, on November 9, 2008. Jessica Trisko of Canada crowned Karla Henry of the Philippines as her successor the en ...

''.Miss Earth '08
/ref> She is also a singer, actress, television personality,

internet celebrity An Internet celebrity, also referred to as an Internet personality, is an individual who has acquired or developed their fame and notability on the Internet. The growing popularity of social media provides a means for people to reach a large ...

and model. She has become a sex symbol of the 2000s and 2010s.

Biography

Being half

Peloponnesian The Peloponnese ( ), Peloponnesus ( ; , ) or Morea (; ) is a peninsula and geographic region in Southern Greece, and the southernmost region of the Balkans. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridge ...

, in 2007 Ria entered and won the ''Miss Peloponnese'' pageant and represented

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

in the ''Model of the World'' pageant and placed 2nd runner-up. Antoniou, after that pageant, was appointed by the ''Star Hellas Organization'' to represent

in ''

'' on 9 November 2008, in

Angeles City Angeles (), officially the City of Angeles (; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 462,928 people. A ...

, Philippines. Antoniou posed many times for ''Nitro'', ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

'', ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...

'', and others. From 7 January 2012 to 17 March 2012 Ria took part (with Bobo Vieri, Alex Belli,

Andrés Gil Andrés Gil (born 27 January 1990 in San Isidro, Buenos Aires, San Isidro) is an Argentine actor, model (person), model, dancer and media personality. Biography In January 2012 Gil took part - with Bobo Vieri, Alex Belli, Anna Tatangelo, Ria Ant ...

Anna Tatangelo Anna Tatangelo (born 9 January 1987) is an Italian Pop music, pop singer and television personality. At the age of 15, she became the youngest person to win the Newcomer's Award at the prestigious Sanremo Music Festival singing contest. Her re ...

, Ariadna Romero and others contestants) on the 8th series''Ballando con le stelle 8'' – Ria Antoniou
– Davide Maggio, 6 January 2012 (Italian) of '' Ballando con le Stelle'', the Italian version of ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...

'' hosted by

Milly Carlucci Camilla Patrizia "Milly" Carlucci (born 1 October 1954) is an Italian television presenter, actress and singer. Carlucci played the role of Urania in the 1985 film ''The Adventures of Hercules''. In 1996 she became a Goodwill ambassador for UNI ...

with

Paolo Belli Paolo Belli (born 21 March 1962, in Formigine) is an Italian singer and television presenter. Biography Singer since 1984, first with Ladri di Biciclette (band), Ladri di Biciclette and then as a solo artist, Paolo Belli is best known for his c ...

and his ''Big Band'' and aired by

Rai 1 Rai 1 () is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It is the company's Flagship (broadcasting), flagship television channel and is known for broadcasting ...

in the prime time of saturday, the most important

time slot Broadcast programming is the practice of organizing or ordering (scheduling) of broadcast media shows, typically radio and television, in a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or season-long schedule. Modern broadcasters use broadcast automatio ...

in the

Italian television Television in Italy was Timeline of the introduction of television in countries, introduced in 1939, when the first experimental broadcasts began. However, this lasted for a very short time: when fascist Italy entered World War II in 1940, all ...

: in this talent show Ria was paired with

Raimondo Todaro The seventh series of '' Ballando con le Stelle'' was broadcast from 26 February to 30 April 2011 on RAI 1 and was presented by Milly Carlucci with Paolo Belli and his 'Big Band'. Couples Scoring Chart : indicate the lowest score for each ...

and they finished at the third place in the final episode. From 24 March 2012 to 7 April 2012 Antoniou hosted with

and

the first season of '' Ballando con te'', a program of dance aired by

; on 8 December 2012 Ria was the host of the 2012 edition of '' The Look of the Year Fashion Awards'' with Nino Graziano Luca. Ria in April 2016 recited, together with

Massimo Boldi Massimo Antonio Boldi (born 23 July 1945) is an Italian stand-up comedian and actor. Biography Boldi was born in Luino on 23 July 1945. In 1955 his family moved to Milan, where he joined evening classes and began working as a window-dresser ...

and Max Tortora, in the movie '' La coppia dei campioni'', directed by

Giulio Base Giulio Base (born 6 December 1964) is an Italian film director. He has received two doctorates, one in Literature and Philosophy and another in Theology, and has been a member of Mensa International since 1996. Career Base began his career as ...

. Antoniou in September 2016 became the new

primadonna In opera or ''commedia dell'arte'', a prima donna (; Italian for 'first lady'; : ''prime donne'') is the leading female singer in the company, the person to whom the ''prime'' roles would be given. ''Prime donne'' often had grand off-stage pe ...

– flanked by four dancers – of the 18th edition, hosted by the comic duo Luca e Paolo, of the comedy show ''Colorado'' aired 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 ...

, the network in which Ria holds since September 2013 the role of showgirl and opinonist in the sports talk show ''

Tiki Taka - Il calcio è il nostro gioco In Māori mythology, Tiki is the first man created by either Tūmatauenga or Tāne. He found the first woman, Marikoriko, in a pond; she seduced him and he became the father of Hine-kau-ataata. By extension, a tiki is a large or small wooden ...

'' hosted by Pierluigi Pardo with

Melissa Satta Melissa Satta (born 7 February 1986) is an Italian television presenter. She was a showgirl in the Italian satirical series ''Striscia la notizia''. Satta has appeared in ''Maxim (magazine), Maxim'' magazine and was featured in the 2010 Sports ...

: in August 2018, Satta (as Pardo's co-host) and Antoniou as showgirl and opinionist were replaced by

Wanda Nara Wanda Nara (born 10 December 1986) is an Argentine model and television presenter. Early life Nara was born on 10 December 1986 in Boulogne Sur Mer, Buenos Aires, to Andrés Nara and Nora Colosimo. She has a younger sister, Zaira. Career N ...

. Ria Antoniou in November 2016 recited as

female lead A leading actor, leading actress, or leading man or lady or simply lead (), plays a main role in a film, television show or play. The word ''lead'' may also refer to the largest role in the piece, and ''leading actor'' may refer to a person w ...

in the movie '' Non si ruba a casa dei ladri'', directed by

Carlo Vanzina Carlo Vanzina (13 March 1951 – 8 July 2018) was an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter. Vanzina was born in Rome, the son of Maria Teresa Nati and film director Stefano Vanzina and brother of Enrico Vanzina. Many of his project ...

. Ria in August 2017 posed naked for the 2018 nude calendar of '' For Men Magazine''. Antoniou at the end of 2017 was announced as the ''Sexiest Greek model'' for the year 2017 among other 143 contestants on the Greek

men's magazine This is a list of men's magazines from around the world. These are magazines (periodical print publications) that have been published primarily for a readership of men. The list has been split into subcategories according to the target audienc ...

'' Kafto''. During the 2017–2018 season Ria took part in the late-night variety show of

Rai 2 Rai 2 is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It is the company's second television channel, and is known for broadcasting '' TG2'' news bulletins, ta ...

'' Sbandati'', hosted by the comic duo Gigi e Ross, with the role of "stable commentator" ('' opinionista fissa'') with various people. In the summer of 2018 Antoniou was the only female commentator and showgirl in the sports talk show, hosted by Pierluigi Pardo and aired by

, '' Tiki Taka Russia''.

References

External links

*
Miss Earth official website''Ballando con le stelle 8'' – Ria Antoniou
{{DEFAULTSORT:Antoniou, Ria 1988 births Living people Models from Athens Greek female models Miss Earth 2008 contestants Greek beauty pageant winners