JONSSON
Ulrika

• 1. Career
• 1.1. Big Brother

Eva Ulrika Jonsson is a Swedish-British television presenter and model. She became known as a TV-am weather presenter, moved on to present the ITV show Gladiators, and as a team captain of the BBC Two show Shooting Stars.

Career

After working as a secretary, Jonsson began her television career on TV-am in 1989, as a weather presenter on Good Morning Britain. From 12 September 1989, she was also the weather presenter for Swedish TV3, broadcasting from London. In 1991, she co-presented BBC One's short-lived daytime quiz show Who's Bluffing Who? with Richard Cartridge, and starred in the French film, The Annunciation of Marie (1991). In 1992, she moved into mainstream presenting and played host to numerous shows including ITV's Gladiators, The National Lottery Draws – plus two major international broadcasts, the Eurovision Song Contest in 1998 and Miss World in 1999. She also modelled for Playtex Lingerie during this period and was a team captain on the BBC TV quiz show Shooting Stars.

In 1997, she interviewed the then British Prime Minister John Major for the BBC 2 programme, The Enormous Election. In 1998, she interviewed the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, for her programme Ulrika in Euroland.

She presented Eurovision Song Contest in 1998 when it was hosted in Birmingham, alongside Sir Terry Wogan; later that year she co-hosted the Royal Variety Performance alongside Ronan Keating at the Lyceum Theatre in London. Following this, she co-hosted Miss World 1999 with Melanie Sykes at the Olympia Hall in London. Jonsson was booked to host Channel 5's reality game show Jailbreak in Autumn 2000 but had to pull out of the project due to health concerns over her newborn child. She was replaced as main host by Craig Charles. Jonsson later presented BBC One game show Dog Eat Dog, broadcast from April 2001 to November 2002, and The Joy of Text in June 2001 alongside Terry Alderton.

In 2002, Jonsson presented the first series of ITV 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, individual doorbells for the children and a cinema living room. Jonsson did not return for the second series, which was hosted by Tess Daly the following year.

In 2002, she was 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 private life, Jonsson decided to return to Sweden. The Swedish television network TV3 offered her the role as hostess of the Miss Sweden beauty pageant. She accepted 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 BBC One's Would I Lie To You? (2007). In March 2009, she appeared in the new ITV series Piers Morgan's Life Stories, each episode of which included a celebrity figure and a one-to-one interview with Morgan about their lives.

In April 2009, it was confirmed that Jonsson would return to Shooting Stars as team captain for a full series airing later that year. She presented the new series of BingoLotto, on Virgin 1 every Sunday night at 7 pm which started on 13 September 2009.

Her debut novel, The Importance of Being Myrtle, which focuses on relationships was published by the Penguin Group on 1 September 2011.

In 2017, she reached the final of Celebrity MasterChef.

In 2021, she took part in Channel 4's Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins. She was the second contestant to leave the series but on medical grounds not as the weakest participant.

On 27 October 2021, Channel 4 announced Jonsson would be taking part in the tenth series of Celebs Go Dating, alongside Abz Love, Ryan-Mark Parsons, Miles Nazaire, Chloe Brockett, Nikita Jasmine, Marty McKenna and Jessika Power. The series began airing in January 2022.

Big Brother

In January 2009, Jonsson took part in Channel 4's Celebrity Big Brother. She eventually won with 57% of the final vote during the final on 23 January. As results were announced to the contestants, Jonsson said "Oh my god, that's bonkers."

She had been nominated by housemates for eviction 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 La Toya Jackson was evicted by public vote on Day 20.[17] Before 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."

Jonsson once again entered the Big Brother house on 24 August 2010 for Ultimate Big Brother, reaching the final and finishing seventh.