Eleni Menegaki (born October 29, 1969) is a Greek

Greeks

The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....

 film

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

, television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 and stage

Theatre

Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...

 actress and talk show

Talk show

A talk show or chat show is a television program or radio program where one person discuss various topics put forth by a talk show host....

 presenter. In 2010, Forbes

Forbes

Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...

ranked Menegaki as the second most powerful and influential celebrity in Greece and top-ranked female.

1. First steps in MEGA Channel

Eleni Menegaki started her career in MEGA Channel, as a co-hostess with Iasonas Triantafillidis in the very successful morning show "Coctail" for the season 1991 - 1992
From 1992 to 1994, Eleni co-hosted with Giorgos Polyhroniou the hit TV game "MEGA Banca"

2. ANT1 Channel, "Pater Imon" and "Proinos Kafes"

From 1994 to 1996, Eleni starred in the hit series "Pater Imon" in ANT1 Channel. In 1995, Eleni started hosting the morning show "Proinos Kafes", replacing Popy Hatzidimitriou. From 1995 to 2005, Eleni hosted "Proinos Kafes" with great success. The media called her "Queen of the morning zone"

3. ALPHA Channel and "Kafes me tin Eleni"

In 2005, Eleni followed her husband and program manager, Giannis Latsios to ALPHA Channel, where she signed a 3-year contract. She started hosting the morning show "Kafes me tin Eleni". For the first season, "Kafes me tin Eleni" suffered from low ratings. For the season 2006 - 2007, it was noticed a huge increase in the show's ratings. As of 2007 - 2008, "Kafes me tin Eleni" continued to hold the top spot of the ratings. In 2008, Eleni renewed with ALPHA Channel for another 3 years.
Later that year, channels targeted to the commercial 15-44 audience. The season 2008 - 2009 was the most successful season of "Kafes me tin Eleni" as it was the number one morning show in both total and 15-44 audience. For the season 2009 - 2010, "Kafes me tin Eleni" faced a small decrease in the ratings of total audience but still was the number one show in 15-44 audience.

Personal life

In 2001, Eleni Menegaki married to ANT1 program manager Giannis Latsios. They had three children. Aggelos was born in 2002, Laoura was born in 2005 and Valeria was born in 2008. In January 29, 2010, Eleni announced her divorce with Giannis Latsios. Few months later, Eleni's new relationship with businessman Makis Pantzopoulos became known to media.

Public image and impact

Eleni Menegaki is considered as an icon for girls and women. Everybody wants to know everything about her life. Due to her family image, she is a huge role model. Paparazzi follow her everywhere and every tabloid she covers is sold out. According to Forbes, Eleni is the top ranked female celebrity, while according to newspaper Thema, Eleni earns 100.000 euro per month and is the richest Greek presenter.