Elisabetta Canalis

Elisabetta Canalis (; born 12 September 1978) is an Italian actress and showgirl. Early life Canalis was born in Sassari, Sardinia in Italy. Her father, Cesare, is a radiologist in University of Sassari's clinic, and her mother, Bruna, was a teacher. She has a brother named Luigi, who is also a radiologist and was involved in a Switzerland debt scandal. Canalis was educated in Sassari, where she attended the "classical" high school (Liceo classico), and then moved to Milan to study foreign languages at Università degli Studi di Milano, though she never graduated because she started to work as a dancer for Silvio Berlusconi's TV channel Canale 5 at the age of 21. Career Acting and presenting Elisabetta Canalis was a dancer on the Canale 5 TV show Striscia la Notizia from 1999 to 2002. Canalis had minor roles in the films Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo and Virgin Territory, a comedy produced by Roberto Cavalli. In 2005, she replaced a busy Michelle Hunziker in Love Bugs 2, the second season of the sitcom Love Bugs. In 2007, she co-hosted the annual Italian music festival, Festivalbar but the TV program closed. In 2009, she replaced a pregnant Elena Santarelli on the Italian version of Total Request Live, on MTV Italia. Elisabetta hosted the Trofeo Birra Moretti 2008, a summer football competition played between S.S.C. Napoli, A.C. Milan and Juventus.