Ulrika Jonsson is a Swedish-British television presenter, best known in the UK for hosting ITV’s Gladiators throughout the 1990s and for winning Celebrity Big Brother in 2009. Born Eva Ulrika Jonsson on 16 August 1967 in Sollentuna, Sweden, she’s now 58, lives in Oxfordshire, and remains a regular voice in UK media through interviews, columns and social media, covering everything from ageing and skincare to sobriety and arthritis.
This guide covers her full television career from weather presenting to reality TV, her family and past marriages, and what she’s been talking about most recently, including her openness about giving up alcohol and living with long-term back pain. It also answers the specific questions people search alongside her name most often.
Early life and how she got into television
Jonsson moved to the UK from Sweden as a child and grew up in Buckinghamshire, attending local schools before working as a secretary, including a stint as PA to Bruce Gyngell, then head of breakfast broadcaster TV-am. That role put her close enough to the industry that when TV-am needed a weather presenter, she got the job in May 1989, appearing on Good Morning Britain.
From September 1989 she also read the weather for Swedish TV3’s London broadcasts, giving her a presenting career on two fronts before she’d turned 23.
Her television career: from weather girl to Gladiators
In 1992, Jonsson left TV-am to host Gladiators on ITV, a role she kept for the show’s original run through to 2000 and one that made her a household name across the UK. Alongside Gladiators, she co-presented the Eurovision Song Contest with Terry Wogan in 1998 and hosted Miss World in 1999, putting her in front of two of the biggest live broadcasts of the decade back to back.
From 1995 she became a team captain on BBC Two’s surreal comedy quiz Shooting Stars, a very different register from her earlier presenting work, and the pairing worked well enough that she got her own Vic and Bob-written comedy vehicle, It’s Ulrika, in 1997. Other credits from this period include Dog Eat Dog, National Lottery draws, and the ITV dating format Mr Wright, where she met her second husband.
Reality TV and later career
Jonsson took her television career in a different direction in the 2000s and 2010s, appearing on Come Dine with Me in 2005 and finishing 9th on Dancing on Ice in 2007, partnered with Pavel Aubrecht. In 2009, she entered Celebrity Big Brother and won the series with 57% of the final public vote, and returned the following year for Ultimate Big Brother, finishing seventh.
She’s also written several novels and a bestselling biography, and has continued taking on documentary and factual work exploring her own life, including a 2007 Channel 4 programme examining her relationship history and habits.
Marriages, relationships and children
Jonsson has been married three times. She married cameraman John Turnbull in 1990, and they had a son, Cameron, before divorcing in 1995. She later had a daughter, Bo, with German businessman Markus Kempen. Her second marriage, to Lance Gerrard-Wright (whom she met while presenting Mr Wright), ran from 2003 to 2006, and the couple had a daughter, Martha. Her third marriage, to American advertising executive Brian Monet, lasted from 2008 to 2019 and produced a son, Malcolm.
She has spoken publicly about surviving domestic abuse during a relationship with footballer Stan Collymore in the late 1990s, which received heavy tabloid coverage at the time, and has said in later interviews that she regrets not becoming more involved in domestic violence awareness work afterwards. Her relationship with then England football manager Sven-Goran Eriksson in the early 2000s also generated significant tabloid attention.
What Ulrika Jonsson has said about her health and wellbeing recently
Jonsson has been open in interviews about experiencing binge drinking episodes, including admitting to blacking out while drinking alone, and about the process of working towards sobriety, describing learning more in a single sober year than in decades before it, according to recent interviews. She’s also spoken about living with back pain for around 15 years and has said publicly that she feels there’s a stigma around arthritis that makes daily life harder for people managing it.
Earlier in 2026, she shared a change in her approach to skincare, writing in an Instagram post that she’d “largely given up on my face” until recently, addressing years of sun exposure she’d previously accepted without treatment. She’s described the change as being about ageing with more confidence rather than trying to look younger than she is.
Family life and where she lives now
Jonsson has four children in total: Cameron, Bo, Martha and Malcolm, and has spoken in interviews about her daughter Bo living with a compromised immune system. She’s based in Oxfordshire, where recent features have covered her home, and continues to be publicly affectionate and candid about her children, often describing family life with some humour rather than a polished image.
FAQS
Who is Ulrika Jonsson?
Ulrika Jonsson is a Swedish-British television presenter, born 16 August 1967, best known for hosting ITV’s Gladiators through the 1990s and for winning Celebrity Big Brother in 2009. She began her career as a TV-am weather presenter in 1989.
How old is Ulrika Jonsson?
Ulrika Jonsson was born on 16 August 1967, making her 58 as of 2026. She was born in Sollentuna, Sweden, and moved to the UK as a child.
How many times has Ulrika Jonsson been married?
Ulrika Jonsson has been married three times: to cameraman John Turnbull from 1990 to 1995, to Lance Gerrard-Wright from 2003 to 2006, and to American advertising executive Brian Monet from 2008 to 2019. She has four children across these and other relationships.
How many children does Ulrika Jonsson have?
Ulrika Jonsson has four children: Cameron, Bo, Martha and Malcolm, from different relationships across her life. She’s spoken publicly about her daughter Bo living with a compromised immune system.
Did Ulrika Jonsson win Celebrity Big Brother?
Yes, Ulrika Jonsson won Celebrity Big Brother in 2009, taking 57% of the final public vote. She returned in 2010 for Ultimate Big Brother and finished seventh.
What has Ulrika Jonsson said about drinking and sobriety?
Ulrika Jonsson has spoken in interviews about periods of binge drinking, including blacking out while drinking alone, and about working towards sobriety in recent years. She’s described the process as teaching her more about herself than previous decades did.
Does Ulrika Jonsson have arthritis?
Ulrika Jonsson has spoken publicly about living with back pain for around 15 years and has discussed feeling there’s a stigma attached to arthritis that makes it harder for people to talk about openly. As with any public figure’s health disclosures, these come from her own interviews rather than a medical diagnosis reported by a third party.
Where does Ulrika Jonsson live now?
Ulrika Jonsson lives in Oxfordshire, where recent UK media features have covered her home and day-to-day life. She continues to work across television, print interviews and social media from there.
