Simona Ventura (born 1 April 1965) is an Italian television presenter. The leading TV host of Rai 2, she is the third woman to have presented the Sanremo Music Festival, after Loretta Goggi and Raffaella Carrà and before Antonella Clerici.
Television career
Ventura was born in Bentivoglio, Emilia-Romagna, but grew up in Chivasso, Piedmont. She started in TV on Domani sposi with Giancarlo Magalli on Rai Uno. Her love for sport took her into sports reporting: for the Italian Telemontecarlo she was the correspondent during the 1990 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 1992 and the 1992 Summer Olympics.
At RAI, Ventura appeared with Pippo Baudo on the Sunday afternoon programme Domenica in (1991) and then, in 1992, the sports programme La domenica sportiva. She has also been on Pavarotti International.
Ventura's career continued on Mediaset channels hosting variety shows like Mai dire gol, Cuori e Denari, Boom, Scherzi a parte (a programme very similar to Punk'd), Festivalbar, Le Iene, Matricole, Gli indelebili '99, cari amici miei, Zelig - Noi facciamo cabaret, and Piccole canaglie. In all, she spent eight years at Mediaset.
In 1996, Ventura hosted the newcomers' section of the Sanremo Music Festival for RAI.
In 2001 Simona went back to Rai Due to host the seventh edition of the Sunday afternoon show "Quelli che il calcio" and a prime-time show called "Quelli che lo smoking". In 2002 Pippo Baudo chose her for the "Dopofestival" (a variety show about the Sanremo Music Festival) and she then presented a late night television show with Gene Gnocchi called "La grande notte del lunedì sera". She has been presenting the Italian version of Celebrity Survivor, L'isola dei famosi, since 2003. In 2004 she was the host presenter of the Sanremo Music Festival. In 2005 and 2006 she presented Music Farm, a show similar to the Hit Me, Baby, One More Time format, on Rai Due.
She also had the Prime Time Access Rule on Rai Uno with Le tre scimmiette and in 2007 appeared in prime time with Colpo di genio.
Simona Ventura presented Quelli che... il Calcio until 2011. She led the popular reality show L'isola dei famosi for 8 editions. In the fall of 2009, she abandoned her role as a judge on X-Factor. Working on his two most important programmes, Simona Ventura in May 2011 had some problems with the company. The director of RAI 2 Massimo Liofredi tried not to renew the contract of Simona Ventura for this reason after she signed a contract with Sky.
Simona was a judge in seasons 1, 2, 5, 6 and 7 of the Italian X-Factor, winning the fifth one with her act Francesca Michielin.
Simona Ventura signed a contract for two years with satellite platform Sky after almost 10 years spent working at RAI bringing good advertising revenue, becoming the queen of RAI 2, leaving the company to move to the satellite network.
In early 2016 Simona Ventura returned to Mediaset as a contestant in the XI season of the popular reality show L'isola dei famosi now hosted by Alessia Marcuzzi with Alvin on Canale 5 and won by Giacobbe Fragomeni.
In the autumn of 2016[1] Mariano Di Vaio (in couple[2] with the dancer Stefano De Martino) is one of the tutors/mentors[3] of the first season of Selfie – Le cose cambiano,[4] the new talent show produced by Fascino PGT of Maria De Filippi and aired by Canale 5 with Simona Ventura as presenter.[5] Bernardo Corradi (in couple[6] with the dancer Stefano De Martino) in May-June 2017 is one of the tutors/mentors[6] in the second season of Selfie – Le cose cambiano, a talent show produced by Fascino PGT[7] of Maria De Filippi and aired by Canale 5 with Simona Ventura as presenter.[6][7]
Other appearances
In 1996 Ventura was the Italian voice of Lola Bunny in Space Jam.
She acted in the film Fratelli Coltelli in 1997.
In 2008 Ventura starred in La fidanzata di papà with Massimo Boldi and Elisabetta Canalis.
In 2009 Ventura was trolled by English rock band Muse in her show Quelli che.. il Calcio.
In 2010 she had a cameo in Sofia Coppola's Somewhere.
In 2012, Ventura provided the voice of the pre-match presenter in the EA Sports video game FIFA 13.
Awards
Ventura has won 4 Telegatti as Best Female Figure of the Year.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Una notte, un sogno | Young girl | Uncredited extra |
| 1989 | Le finte bionde | Blonde girl | Uncredited extra |
| 1996 | Space Jam | Lola Bunny | Italian dub; voice role |
| 1997 | Fratelli coltelli | Sonia | |
| 2008 | La fidanzata di papà | Angela Vandelli | |
| 2009 | Videocracy | Herself | Documentary |
| 2010 | Somewhere | Telegatto Host | Cameo appearance |
| 2011 | Vacanze di Natale a Cortina | Herself | Cameo appearance |
| 2021 | Le 7 giornate di Bergamo | None | Director only |
| 2022 | Marco inedito |
Television
| Year | Title | Role(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Miss Italia 1986 | Herself (contestant) | Annual beauty contest |
| 1988 | Miss Universe 1988 | Annual beauty contest | |
| 1988–1989 | Domani sposi | Herself (co-host) | Game show |
| 1990–1991 | Galagoal | Herself (reporter) | Sports talk show |
| 1991–1992 | Domenica in | Talk show (season 16) | |
| 1992–1994 | La Domenica Sportiva | Herself (co-host) | Sports talk show |
| 1994 | Scommetiamo che…? | Herself (reporter) | Variety show |
| Castrocaro Music Festival 1994 | Herself (host) | Annual music festival | |
| 1994–1997 | Mai dire Gol | Sports program (season 5-7) | |
| 1995, 1999 | Scherzi a parte | Herself (co-host) | Prank show (seasons 4, 6) |
| 1996 | Sanremo Giovani | Talent show (season 4) | |
| Il boom | Variety show | ||
| 1997 | Festivalbar 1997 | Annual music festival | |
| 1997–2001, 2016 | Le Iene | Herself (host) | Information program (seasons 1-4, 19) |
| 1998–2001 | Matricole | Docuseries | |
| 1998–1999 | Zelig | Variety show (season 2-3) | |
| 2001 | Piccole canaglie | Variety show | |
| 2001–2011 | Quelli che... il Calcio | Sports program (season 9-18) | |
| 2002 | DopoFestival | Sanremo Music Festival aftershow | |
| 2003–2011 | L'isola dei famosi | Reality show (season 1-8) | |
| 2004 | Sanremo Music Festival 2004 | Annual music festival | |
| 2005–2006 | Music Farm | Talent show (season 2-3) | |
| 2008–2011 | X Factor | Herself (judge) | Talent show (season 1-2, 5-7) |
| 2012–2013 | Cielo che Gol | Herself (host) | Sports talk show |
| 2014–2015 | Miss Italia | Annual beauty contest | |
| 2015 | Notti sul ghiacchio | Herself (judge) | Talent show (season 3) |
| 2016–2017 | Selfie - Le cose cambiano | Herself (host) | Reality show |
| 2018 | Amici di Maria De Filippi | Herself (judge) | Talent show (season 17 final stage) |
| Temptation Island VIP | Herself (host) | Reality show (season 1) | |
| 2019 | Il collegio | Narrator | Reality show (season 4) |
| The Voice of Italy | Herself (host) | Talent show (season 6) | |
| 2021 | Game of Games: Gioco loco | Game show | |
| 2022 | Ultima fermata | Reality show | |
| 2023 | Il cantante mascherato | Herself (contestant) | Talent show (season 4) |
| Ballando con le Stelle | Talent show (season 18) | ||
| 2025 | Grande Fratello | Herself (host) | Reality show (season 19) |
Personal life
Ventura was married to Italian footballer and television personality Stefano Bettarini between 1998 and 2004; they have two children together.[8] Ventura is Catholic.[9]
References
- 1."Selfie su Canale 5 dal 14 novembre: Simone Rugiati fra i mentori (Anteprima Blogo)". 2 November 2016.
- 2."'selfie' della ventura: Ci saranno de martino e di vaio, tina cipollari e katia ricciarelli". 2 November 2016.
- 3."Selfie - le Cose Cambiano: Su Canale 5 da Lunedi 14 Novembre. Ecco I Mentori". 2 November 2016.
- 4.Bubinoblog (3 November 2016). "Mediaset Ufficializza Selfie Su Canale 5, Ecco Tutti I Dettagli (Come Dandolo-Anticipato)". BUBINOBLOG - Ascolti e Notizie sulla Tv.
- 5.Bubinoblog (2 November 2016). "Selfie Parte Lunedi' 14 Novembre Con Simona Ventura". BUBINOBLOG - Ascolti e Notizie sulla Tv.
- 6.[6.2][6.3]"Selfie - le cose cambiano, seconda edizione: Nuova giuria e cast di mentori". 2 May 2017.
- 7.[7.2]"Selfie 2: Il cast. Ecco giudici e mentori del programma di Simona Ventura". 3 May 2017.
- 8."Ventura – Bettarini le foto più belle della loro storia". Retrieved 12 February 2015.
- 9.Gambi, Paolo. I vip parlano di Dio: dialoghi sul senso della vita, il destino e la felicità (in Italian). Casale Monferrato: Piemme. p. 18. ISBN 978-88-384-3379-5.