Piharii Lémery

**Piharii Diane Lémery** (born 13 October 1978) is a Maronan television personality, model, and former beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Marone 2003. Lémery had previously been crowned Miss Wahiti 2002, and was the third woman from Maronan Naysia to be crowned Miss Marone. Lémery represented Marone at Miss Parth 2003, where she placed in the Top 10.

## Early life and education

Lémery was born on 13 October 1978 in Uoto, on the island of Wahiti in Maronan Naysia, to parents Gaspard Lémery (1950–1998) and Aroroerua Rodrigues (born 1954). Her father was born in metropolitan Marone and moved to Wahiti as an adult to work in the tourism industry, while her mother was born in Wahiti to a Wahitian mother and an Escarian father, and worked as a fitness instructor. Lémery's parents never married and split up when Lémery was three years old, and she was afterwards raised by her mother as an only child. She had minimal contact with her father after he relocated to Tahare in 1986, and he later died of colon cancer in 1998, aged 48.

Lémery began her education in 1984, attending a public, primary school in Uoto. As a child, Lémery was an accomplished gymnast, but was forced to leave gymnastics after growing too tall. Lémery completed primary school in 1991, and later graduated from *collège* as well in 1994. She later enrolled in a *lycée* to study a technical program in theatre, music, and the performing arts, with a focus on vocal performance, and graduated with her *baccalauréat* in 1997.

## Career

Lémery began working professionally as a model in 1993, aged 14, after she was discovered by a modeling scout at a shopping mall in her hometown. After signing with a Wahitian modeling agency, Lémery began working as both a print and runway model in Wahiti. In 1997, aged 18, Lémery moved to Delmas to pursue professional modeling full-time.

In order to earn supplemental income while modeling full-time, Lémery worked a variety of odd jobs, such as as a nightclub singer, go-go dancer, backup dancer, customer service representative, retail clerk, and lifeguard.

### Miss Marone 2003

In 2002, Lémery moved back to Wahiti in order to register for Miss Wahiti 2002. Lémery had been recruited to compete in the pageant by the pageant organizers, and had previously declined their request to register for Miss Wahiti 1999, as she did not want to return to Wahiti from Delmas at the time. The pageant was held in June 2002, and Lémery went on to be crowned the winner, qualifying her to compete in Miss Marone 2003. Miss Marone was held on 14 December 2002 in Banoît. In the competition, Lémery advanced from the initial pool of 30 contestants into the top twelve, and later entered the top five as well. After reaching the top five, Lémery was declared the winner, being crowned by outgoing titleholder Élisabeth Desjardins of Pays-du-Verne, becoming the third woman representing Wahiti to win the title.

As Miss Marone, Lémery received tens of thousands of dollars worth of prizes and gifts on behalf of sponsors, and resided to Delmas in order to fulfill her reign. As Miss Marone, Lémery appeared as a contestant on the television series *Fort Malet*, worked as a model in cities such as Danchester and Kafra, and cohosted a weekly radio show on TM Radio. Lémery represented Marone at Miss Parth 2003 in October 2003, where she placed in the Top 10.

### Post-pageantry

After completing her reign as Miss Marone, Lémery returned to her career as a full-time professional model. In 2007, Lémery was cast on *Celebrity Big Brother 3*, the third season of the Maronan version of *Celebrity Big Brother*, but was the second HouseGuest to be evicted. In 2012, she was cast in season eight of *Danse avec les stars*, the Maronan version of *Dancing with the Stars*. She was partnered with professional dancer Timothée Dubois, and ultimately finished in fourth place.

In 2014, Lémery launched her own personal brand, known as *Piharii*. The brand debuted with a line of cookware, and she later debuted her own swimsuit line in 2016. In 2018, Lémery's brand also began selling childcare products, such as cribs and carseats. In 2019, Lémery released her autobiography *Of the Islands* (Maronan: *Des îles*).

## Personal life

Lémery announced her first pregnancy in June 2009, although she did not confirm who the father of her child was. Her son, Franklin, was later born in December 2009. Lémery later began a relationship with Akrainian male model Ivan Ponomarenko in 2012. They became engaged after one year of dating, and later married in a lavish ceremony in Wahiti in 2014. Lémery and Ponomarenko have one child together: Ania (born 2016). The family resides in Delmas.

In 2017, Lémery revealed that she had been diagnosed with melanoma, although she recovered after the cancer was removed. Following this event, she became an activist for preventive care and skin protection, having admitted to dangerous tanning activities in her youth which likely led to her melanoma.