Lena Johanna Gercke (born 29 February 1988) is a German

fashion model A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Thoug ...

and

television host A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for people who garner ...

. She won the first season of ''

Germany's Next Topmodel ''Germany's Next Topmodel'' (often abbreviated as ''GNTM'') is a German reality television series, based on a concept introduced by Tyra Banks with ''America's Next Top Model''. The competition is hosted by Heidi Klum who also serves as the le ...

'' and was the host of ''

Austria's Next Topmodel ''Austria's Next Topmodel'' is an Austrian reality television series based on Tyra Banks's ''America's Next Top Model''. The show sees a series of aspiring models that compete against each other in different competitions, determining who will wi ...

'' (seasons 1–4).

Early life

Gercke was born in

Marburg Marburg ( or ) is a university town in the German federal state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district (''Landkreis''). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has a population of approximate ...

and grew up in

Cloppenburg Cloppenburg (; nds, Cloppenborg; stq, Kloppenbuurich) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, capital of Cloppenburg District and part of Oldenburg Münsterland. It lies 38 km south-south-west of Oldenburg in the Weser-Ems region between Brem ...

, where she attended Liebfrauenschule Cloppenburg (ULF), a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

'' Gymnasium'', completing her ''

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

'' in 2007. Gercke is an amateur

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

player. She has a sister and two paternal half-sisters.

Career

Modelling

On 14 August 2004, Gercke won a casting call for fast food chain

Burger King Burger King (BK) is an American-based multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida–based res ...

. She was represented by Langer-Pueschel who booked her for photoshoots, catwalk shows, and dance performances. At the beginning of 2006, she attended a casting call for ''

'' hosted by

Heidi Klum Heidi Klum (; born 1 June 1973) is a German-American model, television host, producer, and businesswoman. She appeared on the cover of the ''Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue'' in 1998 and was the first German model to become a Victoria's Secre ...

. Upon winning the competition, she received an advertising contract with the fashion label OuiSet, a modeling contract with

IMG Models IMG Models is an international modeling agency headquartered in New York City and with additional offices in London, Los Angeles, Milan, Paris, and Sydney. It is a subsidiary of the talent management company International Management Group. The comp ...

in Paris, the cover shoot for the June 2006 issue of German ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

'' and an advertising contract with

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

for

Windows Live Windows Live is a discontinued brand name for a set of web services and software products developed by Microsoft as part of its software-as-a-service platform. Chief components under the brand name included web services (all of which were exposed ...

. She also appeared in magazines such as the American issues of ''Cosmopolitan'', ''Sports Week'', ''

Glamour Glamour may refer to: Arts Film * ''Glamour'' (1931 film), a British film * ''Glamour'' (1934 film), an American film * ''Glamour'' (2000 film), a Hungarian film Writing * ''Glamour'' (magazine), a magazine for women * ''The Glamour ...

'' and on the cover of French ''Votre Beauté''. She was featured in print campaigns of '' H&M'', ''

Mexx Mexx is a Dutch fashion brand that was created by Rattan Chadha Rattan Chadha was the founder and CEO of Mexx till he sold it in 2004. Mexx had grown to 1,200 stores in 56 countries with annual sales of one billion Euro's and 6,500 employees ...

'' and ''

Geox Geox is an Italian brand of shoe and clothing manufactured with waterproof/breathable fabrics. Corporate history The company was founded in 1995 by Mario Polegato. The brand name, Geox, was created from a mixture between the Greek word “g ...

''. In 2010, she walked on

New York Fashion Week New York Fashion Week (NYFW), held in February and September of each year, is a semi-annual series of events in Manhattan typically spanning 7–9 days when international fashion collections are shown to buyers, the press, and the general publ ...

for the Spring season of ''

Custo Barcelona Custo Dalmau (; born 1959 as Ángel Custodio Dalmau Salmons in Tremp, Spain) is a fashion designer. Career in fashion He spent his childhood and adolescence in Barcelona, where he studied architecture Architecture is the art and techniqu ...

''.

Television

In 2013, Gercke became a judge on ''

Das Supertalent ''Das Supertalent'' (''Germany's Got Talent'', ''Got Talent Germany)'' is a German talent show, part of the internationally successful ''Got Talent franchise'', presented by Lola Weippert and Chris Tall. Just like in all other versions of the f ...

''. In 2014, her sister joined the show for a surprise audition. In 2015, she hosted the prime time hidden camera show ''Prankenstein''. From 2015 to 2021, she present with

Thore Schölermann Thore Schölermann (born 26 September 1984 in Iserlohn, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a German actor and television host. Career After graduation in 2004 he trained to be a professional actor at Palma de Mallorca, Spain. He then took part in a few ...

the talent show on

ProSieben ProSieben (, ''sieben'' is German for "seven"; often stylized as Pro7) is a German free-to-air television network owned by ProSiebenSat.1 Media. It was launched on 1 January 1989. It is Germany's second-largest privately owned television company ...

and on

Sat.1 Sat.1 is a German free-to-air television channel that is a part of the ProSiebenSat.1 Media Group. It is considered the first privately owned television network in Germany, having been launched in January 1984 as ''PKS'' ''(Programmgesellschaf ...

The Voice of Germany ''The Voice of Germany'' is a German reality television, reality talent show created by John de Mol, based on the concept ''The Voice of Holland'' and its The Voice (franchise), international series. It began airing on ProSieben and Sat.1 on 24 ...

'' and from 2018 they present '' The Voice Senior'' on Sat.1.

Personal life

Gercke's relationship with a film director, Dustin Schöne, became known in April 2019. They have one daughter (born 2020).

References

External links

*
Lena Gercke
in the

Fashion Model Directory The Fashion Model Directory (FMD) is an online database of information about fashion models, modelling agencies, fashion labels, fashion magazines, fashion designers, and fashion editorials. FMD has been described as "the IMDb of the fashion ind ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gercke, Lena 1988 births Living people German female models Germany's Next Topmodel winners People from Cloppenburg People from Marburg German television presenters German women television presenters Sat.1 people