Mélissa Theuriau (; born 18 July 1978) is a French journalist and
news anchor
A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...
for
M6. She studied journalism and became a television news presenter. She is the former anchor and co-editor in chief of ''
Zone interdite'' on French TV.
Early career
Theuriau obtained a
DUT in News-Communication from the Technical University (
Institut universitaire de technologie, or IUT)
Pierre Mendès-France
Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French language, French form of the name Peter (given name), Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via ...
in Grenoble, and later a master's degree in Audiovisual Journalism from the Institute of Communication and Media (ICM) at
Échirolles
Échirolles (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Isère Departments of France, department, southeastern France. Part of the Grenoble urban unit (agglomeration), it is the second-largest suburb of the city of Grenoble, which is immediately ...
. Theuriau was a reporter at Match TV in 2002. Since 2003, she has been a reporter and anchor for
La Chaîne Info
La Chaîne Info (LCI; English: "The News Channel") is a French free-to-air news channel. It is part of TF1 Group.
History
TF1 had shown intentions of launching a news channel in 1991, which was one of the potential candidates for a new Astra sat ...
, where she became better known to the French general public. She made her breakthrough as a newscaster and travel show host for
LCI, the news channel and for
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 ...
. Her programs were ''LCI Matin'' (LCI Morning), the 6:40 news on LCI and TF1 from Monday to Thursday and the ''Voyages'' travel show on Wednesdays at 13:55 on LCI. In May 2006, she surprised the management of TF1 by refusing the offer to be the anchorwoman of the weekend evening news of TF1, as a summer replacement for sitting anchorwoman
Claire Chazal
Claire Chazal (; born 1 December 1956) is a French journalist, romance writer, and former director of news at a national television station, France 2.
She had been the weekend news anchor at TF1
TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'' ...
.
M6/Zone Interdite
In June 2006,
Métropole 6, another French television channel, announced her arrival for September as editor-in-chief and presenter of ''
Zone Interdite'' ("Forbidden Zone"), a weekly magazine show featuring investigative reporting.
She also presents ''Un jour, une Photo'' and ''Deux, trois jours avec moi'' on the French TV channel
Paris Première
Paris Première is a French TV channel, available on cable television, cable, satellite television, satellite and the Digital terrestrial television, digital terrestrial service, Télévision Numérique Terrestre. It was launched on 15 December 1 ...
, in partnership with
Paris Match
''Paris Match'' () is a French-language weekly gossip magazine. It covers major national and international news along with celebrity lifestyle features. ''Paris Match'' has been considered "one of the world's best outlets for photojournalism". ...
. ''Un jour, une photo'' features stories behind iconic and historic photos. ''Deux, trois jours avec moi'' is a weekly travel programme in which an invited guest reveals more about him or herself during a trip.
In September 2006, she was appointed co-editor in chief and anchor of the influential TV magazine ''Zone interdite'' ("Forbidden Zone") on
M6. She will stay there for 6 years, until August 29, 2012, the date of her last show (she will present this show barefoot)
Charity
In March 2007, she launched, with five other journalists (
Claire Chazal
Claire Chazal (; born 1 December 1956) is a French journalist, romance writer, and former director of news at a national television station, France 2.
She had been the weekend news anchor at TF1
TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'' ...
,
Marie Drucker,
Laurence Ferrari,
Béatrice Schönberg, and
Tina Kieffer), the organization “La Rose”, which works with
UNICEF
UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...
to help educate girls.
In popular culture
In 2006, the ''
Daily Express
The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...
'' voted her the world's most beautiful news reporter. She was similarly voted "TV's sexiest news anchor" by readers of the US edition of ''
Maxim
Maxim or Maksim may refer to:
Entertainment
*Maxim (magazine), ''Maxim'' (magazine), an international men's magazine
** Maxim (Australia), ''Maxim'' (Australia), the Australian edition
** Maxim (India), ''Maxim'' (India), the Indian edition
*Maxim ...
''. In May 2007, she was voted most beautiful woman in the world in the French edition of ''
FHM''. Paris Match has referred to her as ''la bombe cathodique'' ("the television bombshell").
[Bremner, Charles]
"And finally...internet turns a newsreader into instant world celebrity"
''The Times
''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'', March 24, 2007.
In 2006, ''
Voici
''Voici'' is a French language weekly celebrity and gossip magazine published in Paris, France.
History and profile
''Voici'' was founded in 1987. The magazine is published on a weekly basis and is based in Paris. The weekly was formerly owned b ...
'', a French tabloid, published pictures showing her topless at a beach. Her lawyers are reportedly attempting to purge these images from the Internet.
[
In 2010, scam websites co-opted a photograph of her to promote health treatments, the ubiquitous "1 weird old tip" belly fat diets, and penny auctions, unauthorized usage of which Theuriau was initially unaware.
]
Personal life
On 29 March 2008, she was engaged to French-Moroccan comedian and actor Jamel Debbouze
Jamel Debbouze (; ; born 18 June 1975) is a Moroccan-French actor, comedian, screenwriter, film producer and director. Best known for his stand-up comedy sketches, he also worked with director Alain Chabat in several films and other notable Fren ...
; the two were married on 7 May 2008. They had a son on 3 December 2008 named Léon and a daughter named Lila in 2011.
References
"Biography of Mélissa Theuriau"
''Melissa-Theuriau.fr''.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Theuriau, Melissa
1978 births
Living people
People from Échirolles
French women journalists
French television journalists
French television presenters
21st-century French women writers
French women television journalists
French women television presenters