Blond, blue-eyed celebrity on English television and Fleet Street tabloids. From a start presenting the weather on AM TV while in her early twenties,
she had achieved a level of notoriety by age 35 which enabled her to obtain record-setting fees for her steamy memoires and serialization rights to them.
Married for the second time (16 August 2003), she announced in November 2003 that she is expecting her third child.
Ulrika's other children are son, Cameron, born in 1994 from her first marriage to TV cameraman John Turnbull,
and daughter, Bo, born in 2001 from a romance with German businessman Markus Kempen.
Born Eva Ulrika Jonsson in Sollentuna (Stockholm), Sweden, August 16, 1967; grand-daughter of Folke Jonsson, a Swedish opera singer.
Ulrika moved to England at the age of twelve. Reminiscing about life with her father, with whom whe remained close until his death in 1995,
she describes him as a “ladies man” who “walked around naked the whole time”, and speaks of her early experiences of witnessing “a lot of sexual
relationships” which left her with “a slightly screwy attitude to sex”.
Ms Jonsson has described in her memoirs and on television how she was attracted to a succession of lovers who treated her with contempt. Contempt, and worse:
pro-footballer Stan Collymore kicked at her head in a drunken fit of jealousy in a Paris, France, bar, and later tried to sell films of their sexual activities..
Must be pretty scary to have a guy like Collymore kicking at your head, all the more so when you are in a profession where your looks count for so much.
Starting Out (1988-1995)
Aspiring TV presenter in 1988 (her first appearance on the screen was in 1989 or 1991, depending on the source),
she was raped by a casual date, who she has refused to identify, Ulrika Jonsson claimed on national televison in Ulrika Jonsson: The Trouble with Men
, was screened on Channel 4 on 17 October 2002, some fourteen years after the alleged incident. She claims the rape occurred in a hotel room
as she prepared to go to the cinema with the man. The man has denied the claim, according to reports. The presenter is reported to have
denied the claims that Jonsson was raped, telling a friend the pair had consensual sex. Jonsson’s allegations also appeared in her autobiography Honest.
“He forced himself upon me. It frightened me a lot. I became quite ill for a period after that.” she said, and told how
she ended up in hospital for five days following the alleged assault.
She says that as well as suffering physical injuries, the incident had left her “f....d up in the head.”
When asked by the interviewer why she did not report the rape to the police,
she answers: “Because I genuinely felt that it would be my word, I guess, against his.
And I think you know, I felt ashamed.”
In July 1992 she left TV-am to present LWT's Gladiators. One of the many men with whom Ulrika has been linked after her marriage broke up is Hunter,
the blonde beefcake from Gladiators (James Crossley, a body builder who made many appearances
on the Gladiator television show).
In 1994, son Cameron was born.
In September 1995 she joined Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer as regular team captain in their comedy quiz show
Shooting Stars, and continued to appear in that show's season begun in 2002, alongside Will Self, Matt Lucas and Johnny Vegas.
Her comedy show,
It's Ulrika, written by
Vic Reeves and
Bob Mortimer,
was broadcast in August 1997 and was released on video.
Ulrika has also appeared in many comedy shows.
Stan Collymore (? - 1998)
In June 1998, Collymore made a public apology after a high-profile attack on his then-girlfriend Ulrika Jonsson
in a bar in Paris.
The argument turned violent and the 27-year-old allegedly dragged her to the floor and aimed kicks at her head.
Stan Collymore later said in a statement: "A stupid and silly argument had developed throughout the course
of the day between myself and Ulrika, someone who I have realised for some time is very special to me."
He added: "My actions were totally reprehensible, something I am not proud of and finding very difficult
to come to terms with...In a fit of petulant temper I struck out at the girl I love and immediately regretted my actions,
but by then it was too late.
Ulrika, back in the UK, announced "I could hide behind a facade of excuses and no comments but petulance, jealousy
and possibly having too much to drink are the real reasons behind this regrettable and avoidable incident."
A few months later, she was granted an injunction against her former lover Stan Collymore
following reports that he has been offering a sex video of her for sale. The former soccer star has been banned from selling any video footage, stills or photographs which show Ms Jonsson
naked or engaging in any kind of sexual activity, and been ordered to hand over any such material to Ms Jonsson’s lawyers,
in a High Court injunction. The legal move by Ms Jonsson follows a report in the News of the World that Mr Collymore’s lawyer, Jonathan Crystal,
was offering an explicit sex video of her for sale. The video was said to have been made when the couple were on holiday in Jamaica.
Ms Jonsson describes Mr Collymore as a “monster” in her autobiography.
Markus Kempen (?-2001)
Just days after their baby girl, Bo, was born with a serious heart defect, German resort manager Markus Kempen
walked out on Jonsson, leaving her suicidal.
She says: “When Bo’s father walked out on me, and in fact just before Bo was born,
I didn’t want to live, because I was so frightened.”
Sven-Goran Eriksson (?-2002)
In April, 2002, her name was linked with Sven-Goran Eriksson, the England soccer manager. Fleet Street had a field day comparing the Scandinavian looks and personality of Jonsson with the fiery persona of
Sven's girlfriend, the Italian lawyer Nancy Dell'Olio. But when news of the scandal broke, Eriksson refused to acknowledge the affair.
A source close to Ulrika said of Sven's so-called 'caddish' behaviour towards her:
'He hasn't called Ulrika once and she doesn't know what is going on.'
Jonsson also claims she would have carried on her affair with England
manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, had it not become front page news.
“I would have never have wanted it to come out. A – because it was something I was able to keep private
and personal for once, or you know, certainly the beginning of it. Secondly, because the pressure is so intense and the pressure became too much for me, which is why I chose to walk away. It became too much for me and for my family to bear and I wanted to put an end to that.”
She claims Eriksson pursued their “lovely Swedish friendship” relentlessy.
“I was attracted to his age and to his maturity and his calm.
The relationships I had had before were erratic and emotionally unstable
and psychologically challenging. And this one I knew wouldn’t be like that,
it was going to be completely different.”
Other Men with Whom Ulrika has Been Linked
- Mick Hucknall
- Chris Evans
- Prince Edward (incredible)
- showbiz lawyer Edward Paladorio
Other Television Hosting and Interviewing
- interviewed the then Prime Minister, John Major,
at No. 10 for The Great Big Election Programme (1997)
- the Eurovision Song Contest, co-hosted with Terry Wogan (1998)
- The Royal Variety Performance (1998)
- Ulrika In Euroland, a programme about the European Monetary Union, and
interviewed Gordon Brown, the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
- National Lottery Dreamworld
- the celebrity auction spectacular, Men For Sale, for three specials.
- the 1999 Miss World competition.
- BBC ONE's Saturday night show Dog Eat Dog (first broadcast in Spring 2001)
- 50th Anniversary of the Variety Club Awards in February 2002
- ITV1's love search Mr Right
Publications
Received around £700,000 for the serialisation rights to her memoirs Honestly from Associated Newspapers,
proprietor of the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday.
Settling Down with Lance Gerrard-Wright (2002- ?)
She and Gerrard-Wright met when she hosted Mr Right in which he, former equerry to the Duke of York, was an
eligible bachelor with a number of beautiful women vying for his affections.
Their relationship blossomed after he failed to pair off on the show, choosing presenter Ulrika over the contestants:
will she ever work again after that?
Ulrika, who continued to be known by her maiden name during a previous marriage, as is traditionally common for Swedish women,
has said "I am going to be Mrs Gerrard-Wright, which always used to make me laugh because it is such a posh name
- now I'm adopting it."
Sources :
- www.ananova.com
- www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice
- www.tvtome.com/tvtome
- observer.guardian.co.uk/osm/story/0,6903,708141,00.html
- media.guardian.co.uk/presspublishing/story/0,7495,805643,00.html
- archives.tcm.ie/breakingnews/2002/10/16/story72866.asp
- www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/10/13/nsven13.xml