Lena Johanna Gercke, better known as Lena Gercke or Lena G. was born February 29, 1988 in Marburg, Germany and grew up in Cloppenburg. She was winner of the first cycle of Germany's Next Top Model.
On August 14, 2004, Gercke won a casting call for fast food chain Burger King. She was represented by Langer-Pueschel who booked her for photoshoots, catwalk shows, and dance performances. At the beginning of 2006, she attended a casting call for Germany's Next Topmodel hosted by Heidi Klum. Upon winning the competition, she received an advertising contract with the fashion label OuiSet, a modeling contract with IMG Models in Paris, the cover shoot for the June 2006 issue of German Cosmopolitan and an advertising contract with Microsoft for Windows Live. She also appeared in magazines such as the American issues of Cosmopolitan, Sports Week, Glamour and on the cover of French Votre Beauté. She was featured in print campaigns of H&M, Mexx and Geox. In 2010 she walked on New York Fashion Week for the Spring season of Custo Barcelona.
After her win, Gercke was always closely associated to Germany's Next Topmodel with making a guest appearance on Cycle 2 and being a backstage host on the live final of Cycle 3 and 6. In 2009 she became the host of Austria's Next Topmodel on which she equaled the role of her former mentor Heidi Klum. The shows fourth season has just been announced with Gercke returning in her role. In June 2011 she was also hosting a special of GNTM called "Die 25 unvergesslichsten Kandidatinnen" (The 25 most unforgettable contestants) for Pro Sieben which featured a ranking list of all six seasons of the show.
Since 2011 her boyfriend is Real Madrid football player Sami Khedira. She is living in Berlin and New York.