Charlotte Roche

Charlotte Elisabeth Grace Roche is a British-born German television presenter, actress, singer and author.

Roche, who is bilingual in English and German, is the daughter of an engineer and a politically and artistically active mother. She has lived in Germany since the age of eight, having previously lived in London and the Netherlands. She grew up in a rather alternative cultural environment in a family with liberal views.

She left school after the 11th grade, at the age of 17. She obtained initial stage experience in drama groups during her time at school.

Roche left home in 1993 and founded with three female friends the garage rock group The Dubinskis. The members performed several intimate gigs in a small tour before the two other members pulled out. There followed a period where she undertook anything that would shock and offend people — self mutilation in order to paint with blood, drug experiments, or shaving her head. After successfully auditioning for the German music channel Viva, she worked there for several years as a video jockey and presenter.

In 2001, her three brothers died in a car crash on the way to her wedding. Her mother, who was also in the car, survived with serious injuries.

Roche has a daughter and is married to, Martin Keß, co-founder of Brainpool, a media company in Cologne.

Roche's book Feuchtgebiete (in English Wetlands) was the world's best-selling novel in March 2008. Partly autobiographical, it explores cleanliness, sex and femininity, and had sold over 1,500,000 copies in Germany by early 2009. For supporters it is an erotic literary classic; for critics it is cleverly marketed pornography.