Maëva Coucke (born 28 June 1994) is a French model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned

Miss France 2018 Miss France 2018 was the 88th edition of the Miss France pageant, held on 16 December 2017 at the M.A.CH 36 in Châteauroux, Centre-Val de Loire. Miss France 2017 Alicia Aylies of French Guiana crowned her successor Maëva Coucke of Nord-Pas-de ...

. She represented France at Miss World 2018, where she placed in the top twelve, and also represented France at Miss Universe 2019, where she placed in the top ten. Coucke is the third Miss France winner from Nord-Pas-de-Calais within the span of four years, following Iris Mittenaere (2016) and

Camille Cerf Camille Cerf (; born 9 December 1994) is a French model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss France 2015. She represented her country in Miss Universe 2014, where she placed in the top fifteen. Early life Camille Cerf grew up in ...

(2015).

Early life and education

Coucke was born in Fougères in Ille-et-Vilaine, and raised in Ferques in

Pas-de-Calais Pas-de-Calais (, " strait of Calais"; pcd, Pas-Calés; also nl, Nauw van Kales) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which it borders. It has the most communes of all the departments ...

. Her father is a ''

gendarme Wrong info! --> A gendarmerie () is a military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to "Man-at-arms, men-at-arms" ...

'', while her mother is a childcare assistant originally from Avesnes-sur-Helpe. She has an older sister, Victoria, and a twin sister, Alizée. Her parents divorced when she was 13, and she was then raised by her mother.Méliné Ristiguian
« Maëva Coucke, Miss France: Une reine venue du nord »
''Paris Match'', 22 décembre 2017. In 2011, Coucke participated in the Elite Model Look contest with her twin sister. She later received her ''

baccalauréat The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...

'' with a focus in management in 2013. Then, Coucke received a BTS in

international business International business refers to the trade of goods, services, technology, capital and/or knowledge across national borders and at a global or transnational scale. It involves cross-border transactions of goods and services between two or more ...

in 2015. In 2017, Coucke was a first year law student and wanted to become an in-house counsel. After being elected

, she decided to pursue an acting career. She is a natural blonde, but has been dyeing her hair red since 2016.

Pageantry

Miss France 2018

Coucke started her pageantry career in 2013, when she was crowned Miss Boulogne 2013. In October 2016, Coucke was crowned Miss Pévèle 2016 and therefore, was allowed to compete in the Miss Nord-Pas-de-Calais 2017 competition. On 23 September 2017, she was crowned Miss Nord-Pas-de-Calais 2017 in

Orchies Orchies (; nl, Oorschie) is a commune in the department of Nord in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. Orchies is the biggest town of the Pévèle. It is especially known for its ''Musée de la chicorée'', the museum of chicory. ...

, then represented Nord-Pas-de-Calais at

. Coucke won the competition, and was crowned Miss France 2018. She is the third woman from Nord-Pas-de-Calais to win the title, following

Miss France 2016 Miss France 2016 was the 86th Miss France pageant, held in Lille on 19 December 2015. Miss France 2015, Camille Cerf crowned her successor Iris Mittenaere at the end of the event. This was the third back-to-back in Miss France history after 1948-1 ...

Iris Mittenaere and

Miss France 2015 Miss France 2015, the 85th edition of the Miss France pageant, was held on December 6, 2014 at Zénith d'Orléans in Orléans. Miss France 2014, Flora Coquerel of Orléanais ( Centre-Val de Loire) crowned her successor Camille Cerf of Nord-Pas- ...

. Coucke began to raise awareness for breast cancer after her mother was diagnosed with the disease in 2012. As

, she promoted the development of breast cancer prevention and screening. She was involved in make-up and dance workshops in hospitals to help women undergoing cancer treatment feel more confident in themselves. On 1 October 2018, she launched the Breast Cancer Awareness Month at the Eiffel Tower which was lit up in rosy pink lights to support Breast cancer awareness.

Miss World 2018

Coucke represented France at Miss World 2018, where she placed in the top 12. At Miss World 2018, she won the

Top Model ''Top Model,'' also called ''Next Top Model,'' is a fashion-themed reality television show format produced in many countries throughout the world and seen in over 120 countries producing over 200 seasons, which are referred to as "cycles". T ...

fast track event, giving her direct access into the top thirty. She was also Top 5 in the Multimedia competition and won the first round of the Head to Head challenge.

Miss Universe 2019

After

Vaimalama Chaves Vaimalama Chaves (born 3 December 1994) is a French singer, beauty pageant titleholder, and model who was crowned Miss France 2019. Chaves had previously won Miss Tahiti 2018 and became the fourth representative from French Polynesia to win th ...

opted not to compete in an international pageant, the Miss France Organisation confirmed on 23 September 2019 that they had appointed Coucke to represent France at Miss Universe 2019. During the preliminary competition, Coucke slipped and fell on stage, along with several other contestants who also fell in the same spot. The incident was widely reported in the Francophone media, but it did not prevent her to place in the top ten. She ultimately went on to advance as one of the top five contestants from Europe, ultimately finishing in the overall top ten.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Coucke, Maeva 1994 births French beauty pageant winners French female models Living people Miss France winners Miss World 2018 delegates People from Boulogne-sur-Mer People from Fougères French twins Miss Universe 2019 contestants