Noémie Lenoir

Noémie Lenoir (born 19 September 1979 in Les Ulis) is a French model and actress.
She is known for her work with Gucci, L'Oréal, Next, Gap, Tommy Hilfiger, Victoria's Secret, and Marks and Spencer. She has been featured in a line-up of the world's most successful black models by renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz.

Noémie Lenoir at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival

Lenoir was born in Les Ulis, Essonne, France. Her mother comes from the French island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean, and has Malagasy ancestry. Her father is a retired French electrician who later divorced her mother. Her family moved first to Gif-sur-Yvette and then to Palaiseau where she was discovered and started her career in modelling.

Noémie Lenoir in 2015

Growing up in a banlieue district near Paris, which she describes as a "ghetto", Lenoir was first spotted at the age of 17 in 1997 when she was approached by a Ford booker in a post office. She signed with L'Oréal in 1997, and has since appeared in their advertisements alongside Laetitia Casta and long-term model and actress Andie MacDowell. She has also worked for Victoria's Secret, Gap, Next, and many others.

Lenoir was the face of UK high-street retailer Marks & Spencer, for four years until Christmas 2009 and was seen in various British magazines and billboards alongside fellow models Twiggy and Laura Bailey. Lenoir returned to Marks & Spencer advertising in 2012 where she is seen "enjoying a selection of quintessentially British pastimes".

In 2007, Lenoir featured in the hit film Rush Hour 3 alongside actors Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker. In 2009, Lenoir featured in the music video for Usher's single "Hey Daddy (Daddy's Home)". As of April 2011 she was represented by Models 1.

Noémie Lenoir at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival

After a relationship with rapper Stomy Bugsy, she lived with international football player Claude Makélélé of Paris Saint-Germain. They have a son, Kelyan Makélélé (born 2 February 2005). The couple split in early 2009. Despite widespread reports Lenoir was married to Makélélé, she wrote a blog in 2009 clarifying their former relationship, saying: "I’m not and have never been married. I do have a son. I have a wonderful baby’s father and have a great relationship with him, however I’ve been single for some time now."

Suicide attempt

On 9 May 2010, Lenoir was found unconscious, after a suspected suicide attempt in a park near her Paris home, by a man walking his dog. She was rushed to hospital where large quantities of drugs and alcohol were found in her system. She spoke about the suicide attempt in a February 2011 interview with Britain's Guardian Weekend magazine, admitting she had done "something really, really stupid". Some have referred to the incident as a case in a "series of suicidal tragedies" ongoing in the fashion industry at the time, along with the suicides of Ambrose Olsen, Daul Kim, Hayley Kohle, and Ruslana Korshunova.

• Tout le monde en parle – (3 episodes, 2000–2003)
• 20h10 pétantes – (1 episode, 2004)
• French Beauty – (2005)
• On n'est pas couché – (1 episode, 11 June 2007)
• Britain's Next Top Model, Cycle 6 – (1 episode, 19 July 2010)
• Danse avec les stars - contestant (2013)

She hosted a show on Trace TV for two years. She appears in all three Marks and Spencer Christmas TV adverts for 2009, broadcast in both Ireland and the United Kingdom.