{{Short description|German art dealer}} {{Infobox person | name = Kristiane Backer | image = Kristiane Backer (cropped).jpg | caption = Kristiane Backer in 2018 | alt = Kristiane Backer | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=y|1965|12|13}}<ref name="ch-uk" /> | birth_place = Hamburg, West Germany | occupation = TV presenter, journalist, author | years_active = 1987–present | known_for = | notable_works = }}
'''Kristiane Verena Backer'''<ref name="ch-uk">{{cite web|title="Kristiane Verena BACKER - Personal Appointments"|url=https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/officers/wZ-m2W783EPsNOgvtcmuEIG6bVE/appointments|website=Companies House}}</ref> (born 13 December 1965<ref name="ch-uk" />) is a German art dealer with a previous career as a television presenter, journalist and author residing in London.
== Biography == At the age of 15, Backer went to the United States as an exchange student for a year.<ref>{{cite web|title=Moderatoren - Kristiane Backer: Girl Number One - Medien|url=https://www.sueddeutsche.de/medien/musik-tv-moderatoren-die-models-und-die-freaks-1.1104340-6|website=Süddeutsche.de|publisher=Süddeutsche Zeitung|accessdate=2 March 2018|language=DE|date=15 June 2011}}</ref><ref name="BoK">{{cite web|title=Kristiane Backer on Islam and Imran Khan|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yc3PmWVqJs|website=YouTube|accessdate=1 March 2018|date=22 Jul 2017}}</ref>
From 1987 to 1989 Backer volunteered at the private radio station Radio Hamburg.<ref>{{cite web|title=Experts - Kristiane Backer|url=https://www.fird.org.uk/experts/kristiane-backer/|website=Forum for International Relations Development|accessdate=2 March 2018}}</ref><ref name="mandy">{{cite web|title=Kristiane Backer, German|url=https://voiceovers.mandy.com/uk/voice-artist/profile/kristiane-backer|website=Mandy.com|accessdate=2 March 2018|archive-date=2 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180302164042/https://voiceovers.mandy.com/uk/voice-artist/profile/kristiane-backer|url-status=dead}}</ref>
In 1989 she moved to London to work at the then Europe-wide, exclusively English-language TV channel, MTV Europe.<ref name="mandy" /> Backer was the first German to present and VJ there and among the programmes she presented were ''The Coca-Cola Report'', ''The European Top 20'' and ''Awake on the Wild Side''.<ref>{{cite web|title=From MTV to Mecca|url=https://www.thebookseller.com/feature/mtv-mecca-338790|website=The Bookseller|accessdate=2 March 2018|date=5 September 2012}}</ref><ref name="mandy" /> She remained there until 1996.<ref name="BoK"/> While still at MTV Europe, she created and moderated the youth program Bravo TV on the German TV channel RTL II from 1993 to 1995.<ref name="mandy" />
From 1996 to 1999 she presented the daily cultural programme ''The Ticket'' on NBC Europe.<ref name="mandy" />
From 2000 to 2009, Backer continued to do TV presenting as well as voiceover work.<ref name="mandy" /> In 2005 she presented the in-flight music show for Emirate Airlines.<ref name="mandy" />
For her work as a television presenter, Backer was awarded a Goldene Kamera award in 1994<ref>{{cite web|title=GOLDENE KAMERA 1994 - 29. Verleihung - Chronik & Fakten|url=https://www.goldenekamera.de/preisverleihung/chronik-fakten/article207117071/GOLDENE-KAMERA-1994-29-Verleihung.html?ref=sec|accessdate=2 March 2018|archive-date=2 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180302165325/https://www.goldenekamera.de/preisverleihung/chronik-fakten/article207117071/GOLDENE-KAMERA-1994-29-Verleihung.html?ref=sec|url-status=dead}}</ref> and in 1993 and 1994 two Bravo Otto awards.<ref>{{cite web|title=BRAVO OTTO - SIEGER 1994|url=https://bravo-archiv.de/auswahl.php?link=ottosieger1994.php|website=bravo-archiv.de|accessdate=2 March 2018|language=DE}}</ref><ref name="Official">{{cite web|title=Official website|url=https://www.kristianebacker.com|accessdate=2 March 2018}}</ref>
Backer also hosts and presents conferences, business presentations, and galas throughout Europe.<ref name="Official" />
== Personal life == In 1992, Backer began dating former Pakistani cricketer and now former prime minister Imran Khan.<ref>{{cite web|title=Former German MTV host promotes Islam with new autobiography|url=https://www.dw.com/en/former-german-mtv-host-promotes-islam-with-new-autobiography/a-4461534|website=Deutsche Welle|accessdate=1 March 2018|date=7 July 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author1=Akbar Ahmed|title=This Former MTV Icon Found Inner Peace Through Islam|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/mtv-icon-islam_us_594d9670e4b0da2c731ba7b0|website=Huffington Post|accessdate=1 March 2018|date=1 November 2017}}</ref> He gave her books on Islam and took her travelling with him through Pakistan.<ref name="BoK"/> In 1995, she converted to Sunni Islam from Protestantism. The relationship ended after the three years. According to Backer, she and Khan were planning to get married and move to Skardu.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4461534,00.html |title=Former German MTV host promotes Islam with new autobiography |work=dw-world.de |accessdate=2 November 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/fotostrecke-43208-3.html |title=Kristiane Backer: from MTV to Mecca |work=spiegel.de |accessdate=2 November 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.welt.de/fernsehen/article3852434/Wie-MTV-Diva-Kristiane-Backer-nach-Mekka-kam.html?page=1 |title=MTV-Diva Kristiane Backer |work=welt.de |accessdate=2 November 2016 |language=de}}</ref>
She does not wear a headscarf at all times but insists that "women who cover themselves are not discriminated against but respected." In May 2009 she published the book ''From MTV to Mecca – How Islam Changed My Life''.
On 14 April 2006, she married the Moroccan television journalist Rachid Jaafar.<ref name="rp">{{cite news|title=Von MTV nach Mekka – Die Wandlung von Kristiane Backer|url=http://www.rp-online.de/panorama/leute/die-wandlung-von-kristiane-backer-aid-1.2016572|accessdate=1 March 2018|work=Rheinische Post|date=18 June 2009|language=de}}</ref> She and Jaafar later divorced.<ref name="rp"/> Backer lives in London and works as a fine art consultant.<ref name="Official"/>
== Voice filmography == * 1994: Asterix Conquers America as Ha-Tschi <small>(German Dub)</small>
== Publications == * ''From MTV to Mecca: How Islam Inspired My Life'', 2009; {{ISBN|978-1908129819}} * ''Der Islam als Weg des Herzens: Warum ich Muslima bin'', 2010; {{ISBN|978-3-548-74511-4}}
== References == {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category}} <!-- per WP:ELMINOFFICIAL, choose one official website only --> *{{Official website}} *{{IMDb name|0045641}} *[https://www.islamische-zeitung.de/interview-der-islam-ist-sehr-zugaenglich/ "Der Islam ist sehr zugänglich"], interview with the ''Islamische Zeitung'' {{in lang|de}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20120322092201/http://matters-of-faith.tv/?page_id=25 Kristiane Backer] on the ''Matters of Faith'' website *[http://www.r-islam.com/en/index.php/rs-articles/converting-to-islam/famous/565-christina-backer-from-mtv-to-mecca Kristiane Backer, from MTV to Mecca]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Backer, Kristiane}} Category:1965 births Category:Living people Category:Writers from Hamburg Category:German former Christians Category:German Muslims Category:Converts to Islam from Protestantism Category:German video jockeys Category:Press TV people Category:German emigrants to England Category:German women television presenters Category:German women television journalists Category:21st-century German journalists