Malika Ménard (born 14 July 1987) is a French model, tv host and beauty pageant titleholder, who was crowned Miss France 2010. She later represented France in

Miss Universe 2010 Miss Universe 2010 was the 59th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States on August 23, 2010. At the end of the event, Stefanía Fernández of Venezuela crowned Ximena Navarrete of Mexic ...

, placing in the Top 15.

Life and career

Early life

Ménard was born on 14 July 1987 in

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

, 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 ...

. 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 (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among members within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the ...

s from Lycée Malherbe in

Caen Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...

, and later began studying law at the University of Caen Normandy. She additionally worked as a hostess at Stade Michel d'Ornano and Stade Malherbe, Caen. Her name, Malika, means "queen" in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

, and is very common in many

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

and

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

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. She is married to Karim, born in 1974, since 2024.

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 (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

at Miss France 2010. Ménard went on to compete at Miss France 2010 in

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Miss Universe 2010 Miss Universe 2010 was the 59th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States on August 23, 2010. At the end of the event, Stefanía Fernández of Venezuela crowned Ximena Navarrete of Mexic ...

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, 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 known as barechestedness. Social norms around toplessness ...

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 in

on 4 December 2010.

Television career

In February 2011, Ménard began hosting the show ''Paris tout compris'' 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 ...

, replacing Virginie de Clausade who went on maternity leave. She later became the permanent host of the show the following year after de Clausade joined

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 ...

. 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 () or simply PSG, is a French professional football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. With 52 major trophies ...

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. She was also a judge at the Miss France 2017 competition in

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) 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 France, department of ...

on 17 December 2016. In May 2017, she joined the channel NRJ 12 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.

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