Actor

30 series in the catalog

Virginio Scotti (born 3 March 1956), known professionally as Gerry Scotti, is an Italian television presenter, actor and former member of the Italian Parliament.

Early years

Scotti was born Virginio Scotti on 7 August 1956 in the hamlet of Camporinaldo, in Miradolo Terme, Pavia. After giving up studying law, Scotti began his broadcasting career as a disc jockey" at Radio Milano International. In 1982, he moved to Radio DeeJay and a year later became the host of DeeJay Television, the first Italian programme for music videos, broadcast by Italia 1. Scotti also hosted other music programmes such as Festivalbar.

Television career

Scotti was a member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies for the Italian Socialist Party from 1987 to 1992.

Since the 1990s, Scotti has been a television presenter, almost exclusively for Canale 5. He is known as a quiz show host, having hosted Chi vuol essere milionario?, the Italian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, Passaparola, the Italian version of The Alphabet Game,The Money Drop and The Wall. He also directed entertainment programmes such as La sai l'ultima?, La Corrida, Paperissima, Buona Domenica (with Harold Davies), Lo Show dei Record and The Winner Is. He has been one of the co-hosts of the satirical show Striscia la Notizia, and acted in several films and situation comedies.

In 2008, he returned to radio on R101 (the former Radio Milano International), and became deputy-president of Monradio (the radio division of Arnoldo Mondadori Editore).

He was the host of Avanti un Altro! along with Paolo Bonolis in 2014 and 2015.

In 2015, he began hosting Caduta libera, the Italian version of Who's Still Standing, which achieved good ratings. In the summer of 2017, he presented The Winner Is. Since 2024, he hosts the Italian version of Wheel of Fortune, called La ruota della fortuna.

He co-hosted the first night of the Sanremo Music Festival 2025 alongside Carlo Conti and Antonella Clerici.

Awards

Scotti won the Italian television Telegatto prize in 1984, 1985, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2007.

In 2008, he won the platinum Telegatto in the Excellence category. Since 2011, he has held the Guinness World Records for the most episodes of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? hosted by a male presenter.

Personal life

Scotti was married to Patrizia Grosso, with whom he had one son, Edoardo, in 1992. Since 2011, he has been in a relationship with architect Gabriella Perino, in 2025 they celebrated a secret marriage. His son has two children, born in 2020 and 2023.

On 27 October 2020, Scotti tested positive for COVID-19 and spent time in the hospital. He has since recovered.

Gerry Scotti at Italian Chamber of Deputies website (in Italian)