Karine Le Marchand Height, Age, Boyfriend, Family, Biography & More

Bio/Wiki
Real Name	Karine M’Fayokurera ^[1]Liberation
Profession(s)	TV Presenter, Actorfdau
^[2]News.in-24 Height	in centimeters- 177 cm in meters- 1.77 m in feet inches- 5’ 8”
Eye Color	Dark Brown
Hair Color	Dark Brown
Career
Debut	TV (As a TV Presenter): Midi Pile (1995), aired on France 3 Paris Île-de-France TV (Acting): Scènes de ménages (2011) Dolores, a football coach and friend of José
Personal Life
Date of Birth	August 16, 1968 (Friday)
Age (as of 2021)	53 Years
Birthplace	Nancy, France
Zodiac sign	Leo
Nationality	French
Hometown	Nancy, France
School	Conservatory Regional Du Grand Nancy
Educational Qualification	Bac D ^[3]Pure People
Ethnicity/Race	Burundian-French ^[4]Premiere Note: Her father hailed from Burundi, East Africa, meanwhile, her mother hails from Lorraine, France.
Food Habit	Non-Vegetarian ^[5]Liberation
Controversies	• Accused Lilian Thuram of domestic violence: On September 4, 2013, after her separation from Lilian Thuram she filled a complaint against him for domestic violence. Just after ten days, she withdrew the complaint. From the beginning of the case, Thuram denied the allegations and alleged that Karine had filed the complaint because he had refused her compensation post their separation. Thereafter, she filled complaint for defamation against the footballer. ^[6]femmeactuelle • Slammed for being grossophobic: She faced severe criticism and was deemed as “grossophobic” after the release of her show Operation Renaissance, which followed ten people, suffering from obesity, resorting to bariatric surgery to get rid of their extra fat. ^[7]Gala • Slammed for seeking a subsidy of 117,000 euros: Karine Le Marchand's request for a subsidy of 117,000 euros in 2021 to the South region to ecologically renovate her production company in Aix stirred controversy in the media. After the information was revealed by Marsactu, an independent French online investigative journal, she was slammed for seeking public funds for personal convenience. ^[8]Marsactu
Relationships & More
Sexual Orientation	Straight
Marital Status	Unmarried
Affairs/Boyfriends	• A fighter pilot (1986) • Passi (a French rapper who became famous in the mid-1990s with the hip-hop group Ministère AMER)(2005-2006) • Lilian Thuram (a former French professional footballer) (2007-2013) • JoeyStarr (a French rapper, producer, actor, and co-founder of the famous French rap band Suprême NTM) (February 2018- June 2018)
Family
Children	Daughter- Alya (born in 2003) Note: Not much is known about Alya's father. He was of Hungarian-Jewish ethnicity. ^[9]magicmaman
Parents	Father- Name Not Known (former director of a national television channel in Burundi) Mother- Name Not Known (executive secretary)
Siblings	Elder Sister-Agnès
Favorites

Some Lesser Known Facts About Karine Le Marchand

Karine Le Marchand is a French journalist and television presenter who is popular for hosting the French reality TV series L’Amour est dans le pré (2010), C’est ma vie (2010-2014), On ne chose pas ses frères (2011-2014), and Un air de Star (2013) on the M6 channel.

Karine’s father left home when she was a year and half years old. Thereafter, she grew up in an all-women family, which included her elder sister, mother, and maternal grandmother. While talking about her family, in an interview, she said,

The atmosphere was not anti-man, but rather the kind be careful and do not accept that a man pays when you are invited to dinner.”

Childhood picture of Karine Le Marchand

While growing up, Karine Le Marchand developed an interest in music and joined Nancy’s municipal music school Conservatoire national de région de Nancy, along with her sister Agnès. At the music school, she learned to play the harp and the transverse flute.

In 1986, after her bac de français, French tests that high school students take at the end of the Première class, she relocated to Paris, where she enrolled in terminal D, a former French high school class that was replaced by the scientific terminal in 1995.

Although she moved from Nancy to Paris to pursue a career in singing, she ended up building a career as a TV presenter. She dropped her studies to kickstart her career as a TV presenter.

In Paris, at the age of seventeen, she was in a relationship with a fighter pilot who wanted to become a model. Apparently, instead of her boyfriend, Karine caught the attention of the Elite Model Management agency while she was accompanying her boyfriend to castings. Thereafter, she established a modeling career.

In an interview, while expressing her hatred for the modeling career, she said,

I hated it because first of all I have character and telling myself ‘you’re the woman object’…When we paraded, we had to make the face and I laughed all the time… There were stories! They tripped over each other, they spilled varnish on the wedding dress because they were upset that they weren’t the ones wearing it. I was completely hallucinating”
Soon she grew weary of the endless photo shoots and decided to pursue her first passion, music. She enrolled in classical singing lessons, meanwhile working at the radio channel RMC, where she did voiceovers.

‘In 1996, she briefly appeared as a host on the channel M6, where she presented the show ‘Télé Séries.’ In 1998, she hosted the show ‘Musique, musiques’ on France 3.
Karine Le Marchand hosting Télé Séries

In 1992, she presented the game show ‘Les Forges du désert’ France 2 alongside Jean-Luc Reichmann. Other TV shows which she presented on the channel include Comment faire? (1998) and Encore + libre (2005).

In 2004, she replaced the French-Swiss television presenter Maïtena Biraben in the French show ‘Les Maternelles’ on France 5. The show offered advice regarding parenting and the education of children. Karine hosted the show until 2009.
Karine Le Marchand hosting Télé Séries Les Maternelles

In 2005, she made acquaintance with Lilian Thuram at a party. While talking about her courtship with the footballer, in an interview, she said,

It was he who noticed me in 2005 at a party. He did everything to see me again and find my phone number, she confided about her ex -companion . Me, I don’t like football, I didn’t even know who he was.”
Between 2006 and 2008, Karine Le Marchand annually presented ‘La nuit des Molières’ (a French theater awards ceremony) on France 2.

In 2007, she started hosting ‘Les Tabous de…’, a French show that talked about different taboos existing in the society like homosexuality, prostitution, etc.
Karine Le Marchand hosting Les Tabous de… (2007)
She became the editor-in-chief and host of ‘Générations Famille’ (2009), telecast on M6. After broadcasting three episodes, M6 announced the termination of the show due to a lack of audience.

Karine Le Marchand rose to prominence in 2010 when she started hosting the fifth season of the French reality TV show ‘L’amour est dans le pré.’ Adapted from the UK’s ‘Farmer Wants a Wife’, the show follows farmers looking for a spouse.

She hosted the French reality TV show was ‘Espoir de l’année’ (2010) on M6. The show followed young artisans (aged 16 to 25) like pastry chefs, hairdressers, butchers, florists, and beauticians who best represent French craftsmanship.

From 2010 to 2014, Karine Le Marchand presented the TV show ‘C’est ma vie.’ Telecast on M6, the show featured unusual but true family stories.
Karine Le Marchand presenting ‘C’est ma vie’

From 2011-2014, she co-hosted another prominent show of her career ‘On ne choisit pas ses voisins,’ along with Stéphane Plaza on M6. Each episode of the show featured a family with unbearable neighbors. In the show, Stéphane and Karine’s mission was to eliminate the crisis between the neighbors to get everything in order in the neighborhood.
In 2012, she lent her voice to the show ‘Le Temps d’un poème’ telecast on Disney Junior, a kid’s channel.

Along with Alix Girod de l’Ain, she co-authored the book ‘L’Amour est tout près’ (2013). She is also the author of ‘Devenir heureux… : Ces épreuves qui font notre force’ (2009) and ‘Les 15 étapes pour apprendre à s’aimer’ (2020).

In 2014, she became a member of ‘Les Grosses têtes’ a daily comedy radio program on the French language RTL radio network.
Karine Le Marchand on Les Grosses têtes (2014)

In 2016, she became the writer, producer, and presenter of the French political television program ‘Une ambition intime.’ Aired on M6, on the show, Karine drew a portrait of various political figures focusing on their background rather than their political ideas.
Karine Le Marchand on Une Ambition Intime

Other programs presented by her on M6 include La France a un incroyable talent (2020), Braqueurs (2021), and Transgenres (2021).

In February 2018, the speculations of her relationship JoeyStarr began when he posted a picture with Karine on his Instagram account.

In 2019, she voiced the cow’s character in the animated film ‘Comme des bêtes 2.’

In 2020, in the French political drama television series ‘Baron Noir,’ which aired on Canal+, she made a guest appearance as herself.

She was the creator, producer, and presenter of the 2021 French TV show ‘Operation Renaissance.’ Telecast on M6, the show observed ten obese people who opt for bariatric surgery for losing weight. The program showcased the evolution of people suffering from obesity over the period of three years.

Karine Le Marchand had suffered from anorexia for many years; anorexia is an eating disorder due to which people obsess about gaining weight and grow excessively cautious of what they eat. At the age of eleven, she went on a first grapefruit and tuna diet to lose weight. In an interview, she talked about her eating disorder and said,

I only stayed a year in the agency, I didn’t have any friends there, I arrived from my province, I didn’t have the codes, I felt very sluggish…When I started I was told I had too many hips. I started to play sports, I hardly ate anymore. I went under the bar of 50 kilos for 1.77 meters…”

Overcoming the disorder, she became a fitness enthusiast and opted for healthier ways to remain fit like going running five times a week.

Working as a TV presenter, she reconnected with her long-lost father when she interviewed him for the channel TV5 Monde in Burundi. Subsequently, she discovered that her father was a director of national television in Burundi, a secret that her mother had kept from her for years. She was extremely disappointed of the reunion. His father died of AIDS two years after their reunion.

Her mother considered the profession of a flight attendant for Karine due to her excellent English speaking skills.

Karine underwent surgery in 2021 to remove a Hallux Valgus, commonly called an “onion,” a deformation that caused severe pain in her forefoot while walking. In 2019, she underwent a hysterectomy to remove for uterine tumor.

Although the TV presenter got pregnant naturally and delivered a daughter at the age of 34, she was looking forward to assisted human reproduction earlier. Apparently, Karine faced fertility issues before she got pregnant with Alya.

In 2020, on France 5’s show ‘C à vous,’ Karine Le Marchand revealed that she had been the victim of discrimination and racism at the start of her career which cost her position as host of ‘Les Maternelles.’ When she applied for the job, she learned that the show’s producers had been reluctant to hire her because she was black. ^[10]Pure People

While talking about Alya father’s, in an interview, she shared,

One evening, at the restaurant, I am with my companion and the waiter welcomes us with a ‘Hello Monsieur and Madame Le Marchand.’ As it was not his name, he took my hand and said: ‘Listen to me carefully, I will never be Monsieur Le Marchand’.”

An occasional smoker, Karine quit smoking when she was 39 years old. ^[11]Gala

She takes her real name “Karine M’Fayokurera” from her Burundian father. Under the pressure of the program director of France 3, she chose the pseudonym “Karine Le Marchand” just a few minutes before the start of her first live broadcast. “Le Marchand” was the last name of her fiancé at that time. ^[12]Gala

In 2021, she became an ambassador of the Région Sud Provence-Alpes-Côte d’azur (PACA region) for agriculture and eco-responsibility. PACA defends the interests of the farmers and takes eco-friendly measures to eliminate the effects of global warming.