An Italian icon of dance and entertainment

Much loved by the Italian public, her leg spread is among the most popular, dancer, showgirl but not only, Carmen Russo is an icon for our country.

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Today, Saturday November 23, she is invited on Canale 5 in the Verissimo living room. While waiting to find out what she will tell Silvia Toffanin (from 4:30 p.m.), let's find out more about her.

Carmen Russo who is she

Born in Genoa on October 3, 1959 (she is 65 years old and 1.70 meters tall), Carmela Carolina Fernanda Russo has always been very attached to the family, in particular to her parents. His mother Giuseppina Gherardini was a cinema cashier, his father Giovanni Russo was a police officer. “Thank you mom for loving me and raising me, thank you for the values ​​you passed on to me. I miss you mom, but I know God has you in his arms and me in my heart. Now you are with dad, your hand on my shoulder will stay with me forever,” she wrote in a post on Instagram in 2019.

The career

Carmen Russo showed a great passion for dance and performance from a young age. She took her first steps in the world of entertainment in the 1970s in various film productions. In the 80s, she achieved great notoriety thanks to her interpretations in sexy Italian comedies such as Mia moglie torna a scuola, by Giuliano Carnimeo (1981), Giovani, belle…probabilmente ricche, by Michele Massimo Tarantini ( 1982) and Paulo Roberto Cotechiño centravanti di sfondamento de Nando Cicero (1983). In 1981, she supported Raimondo Vianello as a partner in the show Stasera niente di nuovo, also participating in Colosseum on Rai 1 in the summer of 1983.

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The following year, she joined the cast of the famous Drive In, while from 1985, she participated in the second edition of Risatissima presented by Lino Banfi, and in the variety Grand Hotel. In 1987, she co-hosted with Paolo Villaggio Un fantastico tragico venerdì. From 1990 to 1991, she moved to Rai, participating in Domenica In. After a few years spent on Spanish television, she returned to the forefront in 2003 by participating in the first edition of L'isola dei famosi. In 2006, she was in the cast of the Spanish version of reality, Supervivientes VIP. In 2012, she was again a candidate for L'isola dei famosi, then she took on the role of columnist in various Canale 5 programs such as Mattino Cinque, Pomeriggio Cinque, Domenica Cinque, Domenica Live. In 2017, she participated in the Grande Fratello Vip, a program in which she also participated during the 2021-2022 season. In 2020, she entered the cast of Tale e quale show. From September 2022 to April 2023, she performed, in alternating episodes, with a ballet at the end of the episode in the seventh edition of the Grande Fratello VIP. In February 2024, she is godmother of the Cinecittà World Carnival, where she performs with her Carmen Russo Live Show.

Privacy

Regarding private life, the name that always accompanies the actress is that of Enzo Paolo Turchi. The couple met between 1982 and 1983.

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She is a dancer, he is a choreographer. Although Enzo was not Carmen's ideal type, for her it was love at first sight: “He wasn't my type, but knowing him, he fascinated me. He was very nice to everyone. One day, in the rehearsal room, he got angry with the dancers. A very strong character emerged. I said: 'It's a devil acting like an angel or an angel acting like a devil,'” she revealed in 2017 in the Grande Fratello Vip house.

love

However, their professional relationship dampened the passion. Enzo didn't want there to be any interference between private life and work: “I would act all sexy in the dressing room, but he would immediately close the door and leave. Then on August 5, 1983, in a hotel, it all started but we kept the story secret because stories between artists were not well seen.” Since that moment, the two have never left each other. Carmen Russo and Enzo Paolo Turchi married in 1987 and in 2013, thanks to assisted fertilization and after eight years of attempts, they had a daughter named Maria. Together they also opened two dance schools, one in Naples and one in Palermo.

The crisis

We cannot imagine Carmen Russo without Enzo Paolo Turchi, couple at work and in life. The two are inseparable, so much so that it is really difficult to imagine that there could be a crisis so strong that it separates them. However, when the dancer was in the Grande Fratello house, there were a few crises. Enzo received numerous rumors, such as his wife's alleged flirtations with Stefano de Martino. Gossip that Carmen Russo denied: “Many rumors had reached Enzo and he thought that I no longer wanted him. I too have read everything, even with an affinity to Stefano De Martino. Enzo thought I wanted to betray him, but I never thought about another man. For 42 years, my great love has only been Enzo Paolo,” she revealed in the Saturday, October 26, 2024 episode of Storie di Donne al Bivio.

Precisely on the occasion of this momentary crisis, Carmen Russo spent an entire week in the Grande Fratello house to reassure her husband Enzo Paolo Turchi. She never denied it and to Diva e Donna she told: “We were close to goodbye”, but then something happened that reignited the spark between them. “We made love on television and we never leave each other,” she concludes. The two in fact admitted to having let themselves go and having made love in their bedroom during one of the nights spent together in the Grande Fratello house. Among the reasons for the crisis, the suspicion born in Enzo Paolo that his wife could be cheating on him. He had even come to think that his wife might have something more than sympathy for Stefano De Martino. A gossip that Carmen herself denied to Storie di donne al bivio: “Stefano De Martino is a very talented and very young animator. I never even had coffee with him. For 42 years, my great love has only been Enzo Paolo.”

The girl Maria

Having become a mother at 53, in a 2022 interview with Verissimo, she spoke about her daughter, Maria: “I arrived at 40 without realizing it, I understood only then that there was perhaps- be problems, because we did nothing to avoid having a child. By then making visits, we understood that only assisted fertilization could help us.” In her life, Carmen Russo has achieved notoriety and many goals, but her greatest success is precisely her daughter: “I have been happy in life, I have done many beautiful things, I have realized my dream of little girl, but my greatest success is my daughter. Maria is the meaning of my life.”

Assisted fertilization

A girl born eleven years ago: “Thanks to her, our relationship was strengthened – Carmen Russo tells Gente magazine – I wanted to become a mother and I couldn't do it, because of a problem with my tubes. I submitted to a strict medical protocol for assisted fertilization. I always believed that one day there would be three of us. Enzo wanted it, but so as not to mortify me, given the difficulty in getting pregnant, he said: “We are both good too”.”

The house

The couple live in Formello in the countryside near Rome. The couple's home is a two-story residence that expresses a unique and eclectic style. Every detail of the interior reflects the creative personalities of the two dancers, with environments rich in artistic objects and personal memories. Enzo Paolo Turchi and Carmen Russo have often shared images and videos from home on Instagram, showing some of the environments of their love nest: a two-story villa with an outdoor swimming pool. The swimming pool is surrounded by a garden and a large paved area, all in stone, creating a rustic and natural atmosphere that fits well into the surrounding landscape. In the distance, hills and trees are seen, contributing to a relaxing view immersed in nature.