Malika Ménard (born 14 July 1987) is a French model, television presenter, and beauty pageant titleholder, who was crowned

Miss France 2010 Miss France 2010, the 63rd Miss France pageant, was held in Nice, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur on December 5, 2009. Malika Ménard of Normandy was crowned Miss France 2010 by the outgoing titleholder Chloé Mortaud of Albigeois Midi-Pyrénées, w ...

. She later represented France in

Miss Universe 2010 Miss (pronounced ) is an English language honorific typically used for a girl, for an unmarried woman (when not using another title such as "Doctor" or "Dame"), or for a married woman retaining her maiden name. Originating in the 17th century, it ...

, placing in the Top 15.

Life and career

Early life

Ménard was born on 14 July 1987 in

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...

, but later grew up in

Hérouville-Saint-Clair Hérouville-Saint-Clair () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. It is a suburb of the city of Caen, and lies adjacent to it in a northeasterly direction, along the west side of the Canal de Cae ...

. She received a ''

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 ...

'' degree in

social science Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soc ...

s from

Lycée Malherbe The Lycée Malherbe is a secondary school in Caen, France. History Since its foundation, Caen has always been an important cultural centre. The University of Caen Normandy, University of Caen was founded in 1432. Early 19th century, the Abbaye-au ...

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,University of Caen Normandy The University of Caen Normandy (French: ''Université de Caen Normandie''), also known as Unicaen, is a public university in Caen, France. History The institution was founded in 1432 by John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford, the first rector ...

. She additionally worked as a hostess at

Stade Michel d'Ornano Stade Michel d'Ornano is a multi-use stadium in Caen, France. It is currently used mostly for Association football, football matches and is the home stadium of Stade Malherbe Caen. It is named after the French politician Michel d'Ornano (1924–19 ...

and Stade Malherbe, Caen. Her name, Malika, means "queen" in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

, and is very common in many

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

and Berber communities. She was firstly believed to be of Kabyle Berber descent; however, she has clarified that she is "100% French", and that her mother named her Malika because they lived in Morocco.

Pageantry

Ménard began her pageantry career after being crowned Miss Calvados 2009 on 17 September 2009. As Miss Calvados, she received the right to compete at the Miss Normandy 2009 competition, which she went on to win as well. She then was given the right to represent the region of

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

. Ménard went on to compete at Miss France 2010 in

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

, where she was crowned the winner. Ménard was the first winner of Miss France to be chosen solely by viewers rather than the judging panel, and she received 34% of the public vote. She later represented France at

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

, placing within the Top 15. During Miss Universe 2010, Ménard was one of a number of contestants who refused to participate in a

topless Toplessness refers to the state in which a woman's breasts, including her areolas and nipples, are exposed, especially in a public place or in a visual medium. The male equivalent is barechestedness, also commonly called shirtlessness. Expose ...

photoshoot. If she had agreed to participate, she would have faced dethronement as Miss France, as rules state that no titleholder may pose nude prior to, during, or after their reign. Ménard crowned her successor

Laury Thilleman Laury Betty Thilleman (born 30 July 1991) is a French journalist, model, TV Host, actress and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss France 2011 on 4 December 2010. She made the top 10 at Miss Universe 2011. She graduated from ESC Bret ...

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,France 3 France 3 () is a French free-to-air public television channel and part of the France Télévisions group, which also includes France 2, France 4, France 5 and France Info. It is made up of a network of regional television services providing ...

, replacing

Virginie de Clausade Virginie de Clausade (born 22 April 1981) is a French-Belgian actress, radio and television presenter. Television career Virginie de Clausade began her career on television presenting with Laurent Nicourt and Hervé Nicourt the short program ''Q ...

who went on maternity leave. She later became the permanent host of the show the following year after de Clausade joined TF1. Since September 2013, Ménard has hosted the show ''Paris, le club'' with Jean-Philippe Lustyk on France 3. The show is dedicated to the Paris football club

Paris Saint-Germain F.C. Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As ...

On 28 June 2014, Ménard participated in the television game show '' Fort Boyard''. In May 2015, she appeared in the music video for the song "On verra" by

Nekfeu Ken Samaras (, ; born 3 April 1990), better known by his stage name Nekfeu (), is a French rapper, actor and record producer. He is also a member of the bands L'entourage and 1995. He started his career as a member of $-Crew, with childhood fr ...

. She was also a judge at the

Miss France 2017 Miss France 2017 was the 87th edition of the Miss France pageant, held on December 17, 2016 at Park&Suites Arena in Montpellier. It was the first time that the pageant took place in Montpellier and in the Languedoc-Roussillon region. The cerem ...

competition in

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

on 17 December 2016. In May 2017, she joined the channel

NRJ 12 NRJ 12 is a French private public-state general-interest television channel belonging to the NRJ Group, created on 31 March 2005 on DTT. The channel is available on DTT, cable, satellite and ADSL. History of the channel Originally called NRJ T ...

to host ''Dans les secrets de...'', an investigative program. In June of that year, she also began hosting ''9h50 le matin en Normandie'' on

France 3 Normandie France 3 Normandie is one of France 3 France 3 () is a French free-to-air public television channel and part of the France Télévisions group, which also includes France 2, France 4, France 5 and France Info. It is made up of a network of ...

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Menard, Malika 1987 births Living people French beauty pageant winners French female models French television presenters Miss France winners Miss Universe 2010 contestants Mass media people from Caen University of Caen Normandy alumni French women television presenters