Milly Carlucci - TV host

Former actress is the face of Ballando con le Stelle

Milly Carlucci is host and artistic director of the
hit Italian TV show Ballando con le Stelle

The television host and former actress Milly Carlucci was born on this day in 1954 in Sulmona, a picturesque town in central Abruzzo, about 52km (32 miles) inland from the coastal city of Pescara.

With a career spanning nearly five decades, Carlucci has been a well-known and popular personality on Italian television since the late 1970s, establishing a reputation for elegance and professionalism and a list of credits that grew rapidly through the ‘80s and ‘90s.

But it is in her current and most enduring role, as the presenter of the pro-celebrity dance contest Ballando con le Stelle - the Italian version of the US hit Dancing with the Stars and the UK’s Strictly Come Dancing - that she has established herself as a giant of small-screen entertainment.

Having fronted the show from its inception in 2005, Carlucci is also its artistic director and project manager. Now into its 20th season, Ballando con le Stelle has become a flagship for the state television network Rai and is currently its longest-running variety show still on air.

Born Camilla Patrizia Carlucci, she was brought up in a household in which discipline was a virtue instilled in her from an early age. Her father, Luigi Carlucci, reached the rank of General in the Italian Army. Her mother, Maria, was known for her cultural refinement and interest in the arts, which helped nurture Milly’s creative instincts.

Carlucci on the set of the 2025
edition of Ballando con le Stelle

The Carlucci family moved frequently due to her father’s military postings, and Milly spent much of her childhood in Udine, in the northwest of the country, before settling in Rome. 

She attended the Terenzio Mamiani high school in Rome’s Prati district, where he shone in her studies but also revealed a talent for roller skating, winning an Italian championship as a member of the successful Skating Folgore Roma team.

Carlucci enrolled at Sapienza University of Rome to study architecture, but her interest in performance and natural ability to command a stage gradually eclipsed her academic pursuits. Articulate as well as elegant, in 1972 she entered and won the Miss Teenager Italy beauty contest.

This victory opened doors into modelling and television. She also studied classical dance and took part in amateur theatre productions, honing the stagecraft and composure that would become her trademarks. 

At times required to join the ranks of the showgirls that at the time were ever-present backdrop in Italian variety shows, Carlucci soon began to land presenting roles, first at the local Rome television station, GBR, and then with Rai, for whom she fronted various light entertainment shows including the Italian version of Jeux Sans Frontières. It was this show that made her famous, and she presented it for four seasons.

Carlucci enjoyed a brief career
as a pop singer in the 1980s

For a while, Carlucci had a parallel career in acting, appearing in popular Italian films such as The Taming of the Scoundrel (1980), Pappa e ciccia (1983), and Tomorrow I'm Getting Married (1984). Her role as Urania in The Adventures of Hercules (1985) further cemented her status as a screen favourite.

Blessed also with a beautiful singing voice, she was briefly a recording artist as well, releasing a number of pop singles and two albums in the 1980s.

However, it was television hosting that has truly defined Carlucci’s legacy. Apart from a few years in the 1980s when she worked for Silvio Berlusconi’s Fininvest networks, she has been a fixture on Rai for the best part of five decades, with a long list of successes from the popular game show Scommettiamo che...? (Shall we bet that…?), which she co-hosted with the late Fabrizio Frizzi, to the more recent Il cantante mascherato, the Italian version of The Masked Singer.

She has also become established as Rai’s go-to host for special events in the entertainment world. Having proved herself on big occasions such as the Sanremo Italian Song Festival, on which she was a co-host with Pippo Baudo in 1992, she was the long-running host of the annual Pavarotti & Friends concerts (1995 to 2003), in which the great operatic tenor performed in duets with famous guests. She hosted the David di Donatello film awards in 1997 and 1998, as well as 17 editions of the prestigious Ischia International Journalism Award.

Milly Carlucci at the funeral of her friend,
Luciano Pavarotti, in Modena in 2007

Yet nothing has come close to the success of Ballando con le Stelle, in which celebrities and sports stars dance with professional partners over 12 episodes, with couples marked by judges in the studio and by the viewing public, and eliminated one-by-one until a champion emerges at the end of the series.

Carlucci has been the host for every series so far, until this year alongside co-host Paolo Belli, whose Big Band provides the musicians. Belli is starring in the 2025 edition as a competitor. The panel of judges includes the fashion and set designer Guillermo Mariotto, whom Carlucci has known since the 1990s and was one of the original panel in 2005. The head judge since 2007 has been Glasgow-born Carolyn Smyth, who has been a dance teacher based in Italy since 1982. 

Beyond entertainment, Carlucci has also been active in humanitarian work. In 1996, she was named a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, using her platform to advocate for children’s rights and global development initiatives.

She has been married since 1985 to engineer Angelo Donati, with whom she has two children. Her two younger sisters, Gabriella and Anna Carlucci, have also had careers in the entertainment industry, Gabriella as a presenter, Anna as an actress, writer and director.

Gabriella also served for 12 years as a member of the Chamber of Deputies in the Italian parliament, representing Puglia.

Sulmona's elegant Piazza Garibaldi includes a
section of the town's 13th-century aqueduct 

Travel tip:

Nestled in the heart of Abruzzo, Sulmona is an historic town renowned for its cultural heritage, dramatic mountain backdrop, and artisanal traditions. Surrounded by the Majella National Park, it offers sweeping views of rugged peaks and verdant valleys. The town’s origins trace back to Roman times, its history visible in ancient Roman ruins, medieval churches, and Renaissance palaces. The town’s centerpiece is the elegant Piazza Garibaldi, framed by arcades and overlooked by an imposing aqueduct built in the 13th century. Nearby, the Gothic-style Church of Santa Maria della Tomba and the Palazzo Annunziata showcase centuries of architectural evolution, the palace a rare example of early Renaissance architecture in Sulmona that survived the earthquake of 1706.  Sulmona is famously the birthplace of the Roman poet Ovid, whose legacy is honoured with a statue and museum. Equally famous is its production of confetti - sugar-coated almonds crafted into elaborate floral arrangements, an Italian  confectionery tradition that dates back to the 15th century. 

Look for accommodation in Sulmona with Expedia

Its tree-lined boulevards give Rome's Prati
district something of a Parisian feel

Travel tip:

Carlucci went to school in the Prati district of Rome, close to the Vatican and St Peter’s Basilica, which is now an affluent residential neighbourhood that is also popular with tourists for offering a relatively quiet place to stay that still provides easy access to the city’s historical centre. It has many authentic Roman trattorie as well as a host of bars and pubs.  Located just north of the Vatican and west of the Tiber River, the area was developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it was designed with wide boulevards and a grid layout - distinct from the winding alleys of Rome’s historic centre. This gives Prati a Parisian feel, its streets lined with stately buildings and Art Nouveau facades. Its main thoroughfare, Via Cola di Rienzo, is a hub for upscale shopping, featuring Italian fashion boutiques, gourmet food shops, and stylish cafés. Prati is also the home of the vast Palazzo di Giustizia in Piazza Cavour that houses the Supreme Court.

Stay in the Prati district with Hotels.com

More reading:

Pippo Baudo - record-breaking host of Sanremo song contest 

How Maria De Filippi became one of the most popular faces on Italian TV

The former actress who became the face of Sunday afternoons

Also on this day:

1450: The death of Leonello d’Este, Marquis of Ferrara

1910: The birth of Olympic cycling champion Attilio Pavesi

1931: The birth of composer and avant-garde artist Sylvano Bussotti

1961: The birth of football coach Walter Mazzarri

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Simone Di Pasquale – dancer

Ballroom talent has been springboard for business success

Simone Di Pasquale is a regular on the
Italian TV show Ballando con le Stelle

Ballroom dancer and television celebrity Simone Di Pasquale was born on this day in 1978.

In 2005, he became a household name after he started to appear regularly on Italian television in Ballando con le Stelle - the equivalent of the US show Dancing with the Stars and Britain’s Strictly Come Dancing. The annual show, presented by Milly Carlucci, is broadcast every Saturday evening on the tv channel Rai Uno during the season.

Pasquale has also appeared in numerous other television programmes, on stage in musical theatre and as an actor in a television drama.

Born in Rome, Di Pasquale learnt ballroom dancing at a young age and took part in competitions.

In 2000 he paired up with the dancer Natalia Titova, who also later became a celebrity because of Ballando con le Stelle. The couple were engaged from 1998 to 2005.

They took first place in the competition Rising Stars UK in 2004.

In the first season of Ballando con le Stelle, Di Pasquale partnered the Italian actress Hoara Borselli and the couple won the competition. He has taken part in each successive series since. The 2018 season of the show is due to begin on March 10 and will be broadcast live on Rai Uno every Saturday night.

Di Pasquale has appeared as a guest on numerous programmes on Italian television and had a role in an episode of the long running crime series, Don Matteo.

Di Pasquale and actress Hoara Borselli won the first
series of the Ballando con le stelle competition

He has also appeared on many famous stages in the musicals, Saturday Night Fever and Hairspray: Fat is beautiful!

Di Pasquale has dance schools in Rome, Florence, Milan, and Bologna and runs the company, Twister Entertainment, which organises events and dance and entertainment initiatives.

He presented the final of the European Championship of Tango in 2013, which was broadcast from Rome on Rai Uno and he also was part of the Canadian tour of Ballando con le Stelle in 2014, which was renamed Dances with Milly.

In January 2018, he was production director for the prestigious La Notte delle Stelle, a pro-am dance competition held at the Parco dei Principi in Rome.

Mussolini had hoped his new stadium in Rome would
host the Olympic Games in 1944

Travel tip:

Ballando con le Stelle is broadcast from Rai's studio in Piazza Lauro de Bosis close to Foro Italico in Rome. Formerly named Foro Mussolini, the Olympic Stadium was built between 1928 and 1938 to a design by Enrico del Debbio and Luigi Moretti inspired by the Roman forums of the Imperial age. The purpose of the prestigious project was to secure the Olympic Games of 1944 for Fascist-run Italy, although in the event there were no Games that year because of the Second World War.

Rome hotels from Expedia

The Villa Borghese gardens date back to 1605

Travel tip:

The pro-am dance competition produced and directed by Di Pasquale in January was held at the Grand Hotel Parco dei Principi, which is in one of the most prestigious locations in Rome, on the edge of the Villa Borghese gardens and close to the Via Veneto. The beautiful Villa Borghese gardens date back to 1605 when Cardinal Scipione Borghese, nephew of Pope Paul V, commissioned the work to turn a former vineyard into the most extensive gardens built in Rome since the days of the republic.

More reading:

Marco Delvecchio - the footballer who became a dance show star

Italy's Strictly Come Dancing judge Bruno Tonioli

Flavia Cacace - the Strictly star famous for Argentine tango

Also on 27 February:

1935: The birth of opera star Mirella Freni

1950: The birth of fashion designer Franco Moschino

1964: Italy appeals for help in Leaning Tower scare

1973: The birth of singer and actress Chiara Iezzi

Books:

Bruno Tonioli: My Story

(Picture credits: Stadio dei Marmi by Blackcat; Borghese Gardens by Jean-Christophe Benoist; via Wikimedia Commons)

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Mara Venier - television presenter

Former actress became famous as face of Sunday afternoon

Mara Venier found fame as host of the
Sunday afternoon TV show Domenica In

Mara Venier, a familiar face on Italian television for more than 40 years, was born on this day in 1950 in Venice.

The former actress, who made her big-screen debut in 1973, is best known for presenting the long-running Sunday afternoon variety show Domenica In, which has been a fixture on the public TV channel Rai Uno since 1976.

Venier, born Mara Povoleri, hosted the show for 17 seasons in five stints between 1993 and 2025, overtaking Pippo Baudo, something of a legendary figure in Italian television, as the show's longest-serving presenter. 

Fronting Domenica In, which was on air for an incredible six hours, was not only a test of stamina for the presenter but came with a huge sense of responsibility. In fact, holding the attention of the viewers was a patriotic duty, the show’s format having been conceived by the Italian government, faced with the global oil crisis in the 1970s, as something to tempt citizens to stay at home rather than use precious fuel for their cars.

Venier had been a movie actress, known largely to audiences in Italy, for two decades before she was invited to host Domenica In.  She enjoyed some success, having made her debut with a nude scene in Sergio Capogna’s Diario di un Italiano in 1973, and gained good reviews for Abbasso tutti, viva noi (1974), directed by Gino Mangini, and for Nanni Loy’s comedy Testa o croce (1982).

It was Loy, in fact, who introduced her to television audiences as the host of an Italian version of Candid Camera on the Mediaset commercial channel Italia 1 in 1987.

Venier hosted Domenica In for nine seasons
and has fronted many other hit shows 

She became the lead presenter for Domenica In after spending one season working alongside Luca Giurato and proving a hit with the viewers.  Venier quickly became a host in-demand, held in such high regard that she was chosen as one of the five hosts – one for each day of the week – for the hit nightly game show Luna Park, alongside Baudo, Fabrizio Frizzi, Milly Carlucci and Rosanna Lambertucci, all of whom were high-profile names.

The two shows, and a good deal of other TV work, kept Venier very busy, although her career stalled in 1998 when she, Baudo and Lambertucci became embroiled in a scandal over payments made to promote particular products while on air.

After two years away from Rai, during which she made a number of programmes for Silvio Berlusconi’s Mediaset channels, she returned to the public broadcaster in 2000.

She had two more spells fronting Domenica In between 2001 and 2006, although the programme was less successful than it had been in its early years and Venier left the role in 2006 after failing to control an argument between two guests that descended into such foul-mouthed language that the programme was temporarily dropped from the schedule.

Venier’s presence on the small screen was almost constant, however, as the host of many concerts, special broadcasts, talk shows and prime-time regulars such as La vita in diretta – “Life live” and Telethon. 

Mara Venier in her movie acting days

She hosted Domenica In for what was assumed to be last time in the 2013-14 series, at the end of which she announced she was leaving Rai and rejoining Mediaset on a contract that included the hit Canale 5 shows L’Isola dei famosi – similar to the UK hit I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! – and Striscia la notizie, as well as a co-host role in the New Year’s Eve show Capodanno con Gigi D’Alessio.

However, she was lured back to Rai in 2018 to begin what has become the longest continuous spell as presenter of Domenica In, overtaking the records previously held by Pippo Baudo. The 2025-26 season is her eighth in a row and 15th overall as the show's main presenter.

Nowadays, she is often affectionately referred to as Zia Mara or “la zia d’Italia” – Italy’s aunt.

Born in Venice, the daughter of a railway worker, Venier moved to Mestre with her family and became a mother at the age of just 17 when her daughter, Elisabetta was born.  She married Francesco Ferracini, Elisabetta’s father, and moved to Rome, where he wanted to pursue an acting career.

The marriage did not last, however.  Venier had a son, Paolo, from a relationship with another actor, Pier Paolo Capponi, before making Jerry Calà, also an actor, her second husband in 1984.

They divorced in 1987 but since 2006 Venier has been married to the veteran film maker and publisher Nicola Carrara.

This article was updated in October, 2025.

The Piazza Erminio Ferretto in Mestre, looking
towards the Torre Civica

Travel tip:

Mestre’s reputation as a grimly modern industrial centre is not undeserved and many travellers know little of it beyond the railway station, which offers trains not only across the lagoon into nearby Venice but to all places on the mainland.  As such, tourists arriving at Marco Polo airport – or Treviso, for that matter – pass through in large numbers. Some holidaymakers do use it, however, as a cheap alternative to staying in Venice and many workers in Venice commute daily from Mestre.  Its most appealing area for visitors is around the main square, the Piazza Erminio Ferretto, a large, rectangular open space lined with porticoes and pleasant cafes. Nearby is the 18^th-century church of San Lorenzo and the restored Torre Civica.

Find hotels in Mestre with Expedia

The Peggy Guggenheim Collection is housed in the
Palazzo Venier dei Leoni on the Grand Canal

Travel tip:

Mara Povoleri is believed to have taken Venier as a stage name after the noble Venetian family of the 14^th to 16^th centuries, three of whom were Doges – Antonio (1382-1400), Francesco (1554-56) and Sebastiano (1577-78) – and several of whom were appointed podestà – city ruler – of Padua. The Fondamenta Sebastiano Venier forms part of the waterfront along the Canareggio Canal in Venice, while the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, the city’s famous modern art gallery, is housed in the family’s former palace, Palazzo Venier dei Leoni.

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Also on this day:

1483: The death of sculptor Jacopo della Quercia

1587: The death of Bianca Cappello, Grand Duchess of Tuscany

1951: The birth of football manager Claudio Ranieri

1962: The birth of jazz musician Dado Moroni

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