Maria Teresa Ruta

Maria Teresa Ruta (born 23 April 1960) is an Italian showgirl and television presenter. Born in Turin, she is the niece of the homonymous Italian television announcer Maria Teresa Ruta. In 1977, aged seventeen, she won the popular Miss Muretto  beauty contest and began acting in theatre.

In 1981 she debuted on national TV as a showgirl for the RAI working in shows such as Signorine grandi firme with Carmen Russo. Later she became very famous as a sportscaster and presented the famous show La Domenica Sportiva alongside Sandro Ciotti from 1986 to 1991. Moreover, from 1989 to 1994 she presented the popular children's song competition Zecchino d'Oro alongside Cino Tortorella. In 1992, 1993 and 1997 she was the Italian presenter for Jeux sans frontières. From 1994 to 1996 she presented the most popular Italian morning show, Unomattina, and the game show Sala Giochi.

In 2000, together with Antonella Clerici and Gianfranco Funari, she led the Mediaset talk show A tu per tu but the broadcast had low ratings and it closed after only one season. From the following September she replaced Iva Zanicchi as presenter of the game show OK, Il Prezzo è Giusto!, the Italian version of The Price Is Right.

In 2004 she participated as a contestant in the first edition of the famous reality show L'Isola dei Famosi, finishing in sixth place. In September 2018 she took part, with Patrizia Rossetti, in the seventh season of Pechino Express, the Italian version (aired on Rai 2 and hosted by Costantino della Gherardesca) of the international reality show Peking Express, and in the end the couple won the competition. In September 2020 she participated as a contestant in her third reality show, Grande Fratello VIP, the Italian version of Celebrity Big Brother. She was evicted on 12 February 2021 after spending 148 days in the house.In 1987 she married the journalist Amedeo Goria, with whom she had two children: Guendalina "Guenda" Goria and Gianamedeo Goria. The couple separated in 1999 and divorced in 2004. Since 2006 Maria Teresa Ruta has been romantically linked to the physiotherapist Roberto Zappulla, whom she married in 2015.She considers hersef Roman Catholic.