Sophie Thalmann (born 7 May 1976) is a French TV host and beauty pageant titleholder. She was crowned Miss Lorraine 1997 and

Miss France Miss France is a national beauty pageant in France held annually in December. The competition was first held in 1920, and has been organized continuously since 1947. The trademark for the pageant is owned by the company Miss France SAS, and is ...

1998.

Early life and education

Thalmann was born in

Bar-le-Duc Bar-le-Duc (), formerly known as Bar, is a commune in the Meuse département, of which it is the capital. The department is in Grand Est in northeastern France. The lower, more modern and busier part of the town extends along a narrow valley, ...

in the department of

Meuse The Meuse or Maas is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a total length of . History From 1301, the upper ...

, the daughter of the owner of a driving school and a seamstress. She studied in Nancy and gained a diploma in public relations in the arts and cultural sector. She then studied at the European Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual at the

University of Lorraine The University of Lorraine (), abbreviated as UL, is a public research university based in Lorraine, Grand Est region, France. It was created on 1 January 2012, by the merger of Henri Poincaré University, Nancy 2 University, Paul Verlaine Un ...

in Nancy.

Miss France

In 1996, at the age of 20, Thalmann won the title of Miss Meuse and was runner up in the Miss Lorraine contest. The following year she won the title of Miss Lorraine in

, which qualified her to enter the

contest on 13 December 1997. She was crowned Miss France at age 21 in

Deauville Deauville () is a communes of France, commune in the Calvados (department), Calvados department, Normandy (administrative region), Normandy, northwestern France. Major attractions include its port, harbour, Race track, race course, marinas, con ...

in front of a TV audience of 15 million. For the year she reigned as Miss France, Thalmann travelled the country with

Geneviève de Fontenay Geneviève Suzanne Marie-Thérèse Mulmann (30 August 1932 – 1 August 2023), known professionally as Geneviève de Fontenay (), was a French businesswoman who served as the president of the Miss France, Miss France Committee from 1981 until 200 ...

, director of Miss France, and appeared as a guest in a number of television programmes. She participated in the game shows ''une famille en or'' on

TF1 TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network. TF1 is part ...

and '' Fort Boyard'' on

France 2 France 2 () is a French free-to-air public television channel. The flagship channel of France Télévisions, it broadcasts generalist programming including news, entertainment (such as dramas, films, and game shows), factual programmes, and sp ...

. On 12 May 1998, Thalmann represented France at the

Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international major beauty pageant that is run by a Thailand and Mexican-based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stree ...

contest, which took place in

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

, but did not make it into the final ten. For the

Miss World Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Mi ...

contest that took place on 26 November 1998 in

Mahé, Seychelles Mahé is the largest island of Seychelles, with an area of , lying in the northeast of the Seychellois nation in the Somali Sea part of the Indian Ocean. The population of Mahé was 77,000, as of the 2010 census. It contains the capital city o ...

, she was replaced by her first runner-up Véronique Caloc, who went on to be first runner-up to Linor Abargil. On 12 July 1998 she appeared at the FIFA World Cup Final at the

Stade de France Stade de France (, ) is the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the List of football stadiums in France, largest stadium i ...

, where

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

were victorious over

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Television career

Thalmann began her career on television in 1999 with her first season on ''Téléfoot'' on

. For three seasons she co-hosted the programme alongside

Thierry Roland Thierry José Roland (; 4 August 1937 – 16 June 2012) was a French sports commentator who was France's leading football commentator for 59 years. He began his career as a radio journalist for the ORTF when he was just 16 years old. Roland the ...

. She then co-hosted other programmes on the same channel such as '' Y'a pas photo'' (1999–2000), ''Les Petits Princes'' (2000), ''Combien ça coûte ?'' (2001–2002) with

Jean-Pierre Pernaut Jean-Pierre Pernaut (; 8 April 1950 – 2 March 2022) was a French news presenter and broadcaster. He was widely known simply by his initials, JPP. Biography Pernaut was born in Amiens, Somme, on 8 April 1950. The regular presenter of station ...

and ''Le bêtisier du sport'' (2001–02). In 2004, she co-hosted with ''Vous pouvez répéter la question ?'' on

France 3 France 3 () is a French free-to-air Public broadcasting, public television network. The second flagship network of France Télévisions, it broadcasts a wide range of general and specialized programming. France 3 is structured as a Region ...

. She then presented ''Le matin de Diane'' on 10 June 2007 on the Equidia channel. From 2006 to 2009 she presented ''Sophie club'' and once a month during the season from 2004–05 she presented ''J'ai aimé un cheval''. In November 2009, she started presenting ''Ch'val dire à Sophie'' on the same channel. She also hosted radio programmes including ''Passionnément Sophie'' in 2001 on France Bleu Sud Lorraine and ''Les tontons footeux'' in 2003 on

RTL RTL may refer to: Media * RTL Group, a European TV, radio, and production company *** List of RTL Group's television stations (including part-owned channels) *** List of RTL Group's radio stations ** RTL Lëtzebuerg, usually referred to simply a ...

Personal life

Thalmann married Belgian jockey

Christophe Soumillon Christophe Soumillon (born 4 June 1981) is a Belgian jockey based in France. Career Coming from a racing background, Soumillon is the son of jump jockey Jean-Marc Soumillon. He rode in pony races and left Belgium aged fifteen to go to the racin ...

on 22 July 2006. The couple have three children, daughter Charlie (born September 2005), son Mika (born November 2008) and son Robin (born April 2017).

Titles

*Miss France 1998 *Miss Lorraine 1997 *1st runner-up at Miss Lorraine 1996 *Miss Meuse 1996

Books

*2001 : ''Ça fait quoi d'être Miss France ?'' (Michel Lafon) *2003 : ''Cheval mon ami'' (Jacques-Marie Laffont) *2006 : ''Passions chevaux'' (

Flammarion Flammarion may refer to: * Camille Flammarion (1842–1925), French astronomer and author * Gabrielle Renaudot Flammarion (1877–1962), French astronomer, second wife of Camille Flammarion * Sylvie Flammarion (1836-1919), French feminist and paci ...

) *2008 : ''Au galop'' (

Hachette Hachette may refer to: * Hachette (surname) * Hachette Livre, a French publisher, the imprint of Lagardère Publishing ** Hachette Book Group, the American subsidiary ** Hachette Distribution Services, the distribution arm See also * Hachette Fil ...

) *2009 : ''Mon journal d'équitation'' (Hachette) *2013 : ''Un nouveau pensionnaire'', Book 1 of series: ''Mes amis les chevaux'' (Hachette jeunesse)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thalmann, Sophie 1976 births 21st-century French non-fiction writers French female models French non-fiction writers 21st-century French women writers French television presenters Living people Miss France winners Miss Universe 1998 contestants People from Bar-le-Duc Pony books Writers on horsemanship French women television presenters 20th-century French women