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Ulrika Jonsson
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Eva Ulrika Jonsson (born 16 August 1967) is a Swedish-born British television presenter and occasional actress.
granddaughter of famous Swedish opera singer Folke Jonsson, Jonsson was born in Sollentuna, Sweden, 12km (7 mi) north of Stockholm. Her parents divorced in 1975 when she was eight years old. After the divorce, her mother went to live in The Netherlands and she lived with her father for the remainder of her childhood.
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Encyclopedia
Eva Ulrika Jonsson (born 16 August 1967) is a Swedish-born British television presenter and occasional actress.
Biography
Early life
The granddaughter of famous Swedish opera singer Folke Jonsson, Jonsson was born in Sollentuna, Sweden, 12km (7 mi) north of Stockholm. Her parents divorced in 1975 when she was eight years old. After the divorce, her mother went to live in The Netherlands and she lived with her father for the remainder of her childhood. Jonsson moved to Buckinghamshire, England, in 1979 at the age of 12 where she attended Farnham Common Middle School for a year above the normal age to prepare her for secondary school, then Burnham Grammar School, followed by St Aldate's Secretarial college in Oxford. She speaks fluent Swedish, English, French and German.
Career
After working as a secretary, Jonsson began her TV career on TV-am in 1989 where she worked as a weather forecaster. From 12 September 1989, she was also the weather forecaster for Swedish TV3, broadcasting from London. In 1991, she starred in the critically acclaimed French film, The Annunciation of Marie. In 1992 she moved into mainstream presenting and played host to numerous shows including Gladiators, The National Lottery - plus two major international broadcasts in 1998 and 1999, the Eurovision Song Contest and Miss World respectively. She also modelled for Playtex Lingerie during this period. She was a team captain on the BBC TV quiz show Shooting Stars.
In 1997, she interviewed former British Prime Minister John Major for the BBC2 programme, The Enormous Election. In 1998, she interviewed the current British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, for her BBC2 programme Ulrika in Euroland.
She presented Dog Eat Dog (reality game show) from 2001 - 2003, on BBC1.
In 2002, Jonsson presented TV makeover show Home On Their Own, a show where children made alterations to their house (how they wanted the house to be) during the course of a weekend, while their parents went on holiday. Some of the home improvements included an Austin Powers room, doorbells for the children and a cinema living room.
In 2002 she was also the subject of a Channel 4 documentary, Ulrika Jonsson: the Truth About Men. The programme featured a candid interview with Jonsson, received heavy press attention and attracted 2.8 million viewers.
After intense media attention relating to events in her personal life, she decided to return to Sweden. The Swedish television network TV3 offered her the role as hostess of the Miss Sweden beauty pageant. She declined the invitation.
In March 2003, Jonsson was a contestant on the BBC's Comic Relief does Fame Academy.
In 2005, she appeared with four other celebrities on Channel 4's daytime show Come Dine With Me
On 20 January 2007 she joined 10 other celebrities to take part in the ITV reality TV show Dancing On Ice, where she was partnered with Pavel Aubrecht. With previous skating experience in her native Sweden, Jonsson was expected to go far in the event but finished 9th after being beaten in the skate-off by Kay Burley during week 3.
On 20 March 2007 she appeared in the confessional TV show, Ulrika: Am I A Sex Addict?, broadcast on Channel 4. The show charted Jonsson's personal journey to uncover the truth about sex addiction. She has appeared on BBC1's Would I Lie To You? (2007).
She declined an offer to appear in the British science fiction television programme, Doctor Who, due to her lack of experience as an actress.
In 2009, she is scheduled to appear in the new ITV series Piers Morgan's Life Stories, each episode will include a celebrity figure and a one-to-one interview with Morgan about their lives.
Celebrity Big Brother
From 2 January to 23 January 2009, she took part in the Channel 4's Celebrity Big Brother. Jonsson eventually won with 57 % of the final vote during the 23 January final. As results were announced to the contestants, Jonsson said "Oh my god, that's bonkers."
She had been nominated by her fellow housemates on each occasion, firstly by 'head of house' Terry Christian and then by other housemates, but survived the public vote on five occasions. Jonsson eventually progressed to the finals night, as the only woman left, after LaToya Jackson was evicted by public vote on Day 20. Prior to her entry into the house, various newspapers had reported that Jonsson had negotiated a £175,000 payment, nearly eight times as much as some of the other celebrities. Jonsson commented "It is singularly the weirdest experience of my entire life and I've had quite a weird life".
Autobiography and John Leslie scandal
Jonsson wrote in her autobiography that an unnamed television presenter had sexually assaulted her earlier in her television career. Matthew Wright named (apparently accidentally) John Leslie as the alleged perpetrator on his television show The Wright Stuff, which was apparently an open secret in the UK entertainment industry. Jonsson made no public comment on Leslie's naming and did not co-operate with police over the matter. Police investigated Leslie but never charged him regarding the case.
Personal life
Jonsson lives in Cookham Dean, Berkshire, and has a home on the Swedish island of Värmdö.
She has previously been linked to well-known public personalities such as Prince Edward and Vic Reeves.
In 1990 she married TV cameraman Johnny Turnbull, but a few years later had an affair with Gladiators cameraman Phil Piotrowsky. She got back together with Turnbull, and they had a son, Cameron; however they divorced in 1995. She later had a relationship with James Crossley, better known as Gladiator Hunter.
She spent many days on tabloid front pages in 1998, after it was revealed she was the victim of domestic abuse at the hands of her then boyfriend, footballer Stan Collymore. Jonsson later took out an injunction preventing Collymore from releasing a sex tape involving the two, apparently made while they were on holiday in Cyprus - the video was later destroyed by Collymore. Jonsson's next relationship was with German hotel boss Markus Kempen.
In 2002 Jonsson had a much publicised and short-lived relationship with England national football team manager Sven-Göran Eriksson. The event caused a tabloid frenzy as Eriksson had a long-term girlfriend - Nancy Dell'Olio - at the time. He later spurned Jonsson for a reunion with Dell'Olio for the 2002 World Cup.
Also in 2002, Jonsson presented the reality television show, Mr Right, where an eligible bachelor (Lance Gerrard-Wright) is faced with choosing a girlfriend from a group of women. However, the eventual winner turned Gerrard-Wright down. Jonsson married Lance Gerrard-Wright on 16 August 2003 and split from him in October 2005.
Jonsson married for a third time during 2008, to US advertising executive Brian Monet. She now lives with her husband and four children: Cameron from her first marriage, Bo, Martha from her marriage to Gerrard-Wright and Malcolm, her son with Monet.
Filmography
External links
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