Hunziker was born in the southern, Italian speaking part of Switzerland. Her mother Ineke is Dutch; her father Rudolf, who died of a heart attack in the fall of 2001, was a German speaking Swiss national. He was a painter, but worked as a hotel manager. In 1983, the family moved to Ostermundigen, a suburb of Berne in the German speaking part of Switzerland, where Hunziker attended elementary school. After her parents' separation, Hunziker's mother moved to Zuchwil/Solothurn and her parents got divorced. This caused a crisis in Hunziker's life. In 1993, when Hunziker was 16 years old, she moved to Bologna with her mother. Wanting to become an interpreter, she studied Italian, French, German, English and Dutch at a local college. After moving to Milan with her mother, she decided to become a fashion model and was hired by Riccardo Gay, a renowed agent. Although considered to be both too heavy and short, at 17 she posed for well-known labels such as Armani, Rocco Barocco, La Perla, Colmar, Fuerte Ventura, Lovable and Swish.

Being Eros Ramazzotti's fiancé (who is a well known Italian singer), she was discovered by a TV-producer. In 1996, she co-hosted the RAI Uno-show I cervelloni with Paolo Bonolis. In summer she presented the prime time comedy show Paperissima Sprint (Canale 5) with Gabibbo. Because of her popularity she hosted the afternoon show Colpo di Fulmine (Italia 1) in 1997. At the same time she wanted to extend her artistic abilities. Therefore she attended the professional academy M.A.S. in Milan with her choreographer Susanna Beltrami.

In 1998, the Italian film director Vincenzo Verdecchi offered Hunziker her first film role in the TV series La Forza dell'Amore (Canale 5). After she took the female main role in Fammi stare sotto al letto. She can also be seen in the documentary film The Protagonist and in another film, Alex l'Ariete, where she acted with ex ski star Alberto Tomba. Then she co-hosted with Pippo Baudo the Canale 5 show La festa del Disco. From 1999-2001 she presented the late night show Nonsolomoda (Canale 5) where she reported about fashion and lifestyle.

In 1999, TV3, the first Swiss private television station, was founded in Zürich, and Hunziker presented a show called Cinderella, where a hair and make-up artist as well as a styling adviser helped both a prominent person and a viewer of the program to get a new look. After the first episode, Hunziker was caught in the crossfire. The Swiss newspaper Blick even wrote: "Cinderella, TV3's new lifestyle show is not bad. It is catastrophic". Later, Hunziker was interviewed by the Swiss German magazine Schweizer Illustrierte and she told that she couldn't speak German anymore after having lived in Italy for many years. After TV3 had changed the concept, the show became more popular.

After having hosted the Swiss show Cinderella, Hunziker was discovered by German TV producers. In 1998, she presented the awarding of the Goldene Kamera with Thomas Gottschalk (a very well-known presenter in Germany). A year later, she co-hosted the show Michael Jackson & Friends (ZDF) in Munich. After having attended different talk shows, she presented her first show in Germany: Erstes Glück (SWR/Das Erste). She co-hosted the show with Thomas Elstner and interviewed prominent people about their first love. The show wasn't very popular though, and was finally suspended. When she got back to Italy, she presented the shows Donna sotto le stelle and Piazza di Spagna (Canale 5) with Gerry Scotti and Tacchi a Spillo (Italia 1) with Claudio Lippi.

In 2001, Hunziker co-hosted the Italian comedy shows Zelig (Italia 1) and Scherzi a parte (Canale 5). Zelig is one of the most famous Italian TV shows. Later that year, she got the Italian TV Oscar in the category Discovery of the year. Besides, she co-hosted the famous Italian open air music show Festivalbar with Daniele Bossari and Alessia Marcuzzi.

--Wikipedia