Véronique Zidane Biography

Véronique Zidane was born as Véronique Fernández Lentisco on November 10, 1971, in Rodez, Aveyron to Antonio Fernández Lentisco and Ana Ramírez Martínez. Her parents are originally from the Andalusia community of southern Spain. She grew up with a sister. She learnt to dance at an early age. Despite enrolling in a biology course in Toulouse in 1988, she dropped out of the university to seriously pursue her passion for dancing. The following year, she enrolled in the Rosella Hightower Dance School in Cannes, leaving her parents and sister behind. She began staying at Foyer des Jeunes Travailleurs of Salon-de-Provence, which offered transitional social housing to young adults.

Véronique Zidane wanted to teach dancing when she was young, and in order to achieve that goal, she even dropped out of university. However, as she met her future husband Zinedine Zidane while she was learning dance at the Rosella Hightower Dance School in Cannes, her personal and professional lives took a sharp turn. Zinedine was only a talented aspiring young football player back then, but after a very short period of time, he established himself as an elite playmaker, sought after by prestigious clubs around the world. Realizing how important it was for her to support his rise to fame, she ditched her dancing and modeling aspirations and accompanied him to Cannes, Bordeaux and Turin, until finally settling in Madrid. While she is not active on social media, she often makes appearances alongside her husband during matches and events.

Véronique Zidane was 18 when she met 17 years old emerging footballer Zinedine Zidane at Foyer des Jeunes Travailleurs of Salon-de-Provence in 1989. While she was taking dance lessons in Cannes at the time, he was playing for AS Cannes for the 1988–89 season. They lived under strict rules, with girls and boys living separately on two sides of the hallway. Even though it was love at first sight for the young couple, they were both very shy and did not even talk the first few times they saw each other. It was actually Véronique who broke the ice and first started a conversation, following which they continued to exchange pleasantries and grew closer. A few weeks later, he moved into a small studio, where she joined him after a while.

After about five years of dating, the couple tied the knot on May 28, 1994, at Bordeaux City Hall. Following her marriage, she sacrificed her career goals and accompanied her husband as he moved from city to city to play professional football. She later revealed in a rare TV interview in 1998 that both of them wanted to start a family soon and wanted to have many kids. She gave birth to their first son, Enzo Alan Zidane Fernández, on March 24, 1995. Since then, they have welcomed three more boys, Luca Zidane Fernández (born May 13, 1998), Theo Zidane Fernández (born May 18, 2002), and Elyaz Zidane Fernández (born December 26, 2005). All four of them went on to follow their father into football and trained at the youth academy of Real Madrid, where Zidane spent the final years of his playing career and then took up managerial responsibilities. Enzo is currently playing as a midfielder for CF Rayo Majadahonda, while Luca is Real Madrid's fourth-choice goalkeeper. Enzo, who took Spanish citizenship in 2006, has also played internationally for Spain. They have a close-knit family and often vacation together. They also attend games and events along with other family members. In 2013, while visiting his in-laws, Zidane pledged to support the local football club in Rodez both financially and also with occasional appearances during matches.