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Eva Ulrika Jonsson (born August 16 1967) is a Swedish-born British television presenter.

Biography

The granddaughter of famous Swedish opera singer Folke Jonsson, Jonsson was born in Sollentuna, Sweden. Her parents divorced in 1975 when she was eight years old. After the divorce, her mother went to live in Holland and she lived with her father for the remainder of her childhood. Jonsson moved to England in 1979 at the age of 12 and attended Burnham Grammar School in Buckinghamshire. She then attended St Aldate's Secretarial college in Oxford, and 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 1992 she moved into mainstream presenting and played host to numerous shows including Gladiators, the Big Breakfast, The National Lottery - plus two major international broadcasts in 1998, the Eurovision Song Contest and Miss World. She also modelled for Playtex Lingerie during this period. She was a team captain on the BBC TV quiz show Shooting Stars, where Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer coined for her the name Ulrikakakaka.

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.

She presented Dog Eat Dog (reality game show) from 2001 - 2003, on BBC1. In 2002 Jonsson had a 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.There was some suspicion that the episode may have had something to do with her flagging career and soon to be realeased Autobiography.

After the media attention, she decided to return to Sweden. The Swedish television network TV3 offered her the role as the hostess 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. Jonsson had had previous experience at skating in her native Sweden and was expected to go far in the event. She finished 9th after being beaten in the skate-off by Kay Burley.

Her latest project was the confessional TV show, Ulrika: Am I A Sex Addict?, broadcast on Channel 4 on 20 March, 2007. The show charted Jonsson's personal journey to uncover the truth about sex addiction. She has recently appeared on BBC1's Would I Lie To You? (2007).

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.

Mr Right

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 9 August 2003 and split from him in October 2005. She confirmed they were going through a divorce during the live taping of the 26 May 2006 edition of 8 Out of 10 Cats.

Children

Jonsson has three children: a son, Cameron, by John Turnbull; a daughter, Bo (after the child's grandfather, Bo Jonsson) by Markus Kempen; and another daughter, Martha, by Lance Gerrard-Wright. In October 2007, Jonsson confirmed that she is expecting her fourth child with her current husband Brian Monet, a US advertising executive.In a Hello! magazine interview (on March 12 2008) she announced that her fourth child is to be a boy. .

References

1. Honest, Jonsson's autobiography, ISBN 0-330-41174-8
2. BBC NEWS | UK | Leslie sex charges dropped
3. BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Showbiz | Ulrika splits from her Mr Right
4. BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Jonsson expecting fourth child

External links

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• 1967 births
• Living people
• Swedish people
• People from Stockholm
• People from Uppland
• British television presenters
• Fame Academy participants