Ulrika Jonsson's wild love life – Gladiators romance, footballer fling and Sven affair

Ulrika Jonsson has enjoyed an action-packed showbiz career, and her love life is certainly no different.

The stunning Swedish TV star shot to fame as a presenter on TV-am before becoming the glam host of ITV’s Gladiators and a team captain on BBC’s Shooting Stars.

Since then, she’s become something of a reality TV veteran with stints on Dancing on Ice, First Dates Hotel and Celebrity SAS.

The 54-year-old model was even crowned the winner of Channel 4’s Celebrity Big Brother in 2009, which she declared was “bonkers”.

Ulrika has certainly earned her showbiz stripes then, but life in the dating department hasn’t been so smooth for the presenter.

The Big Brother babe knows how to party though, and she recently revealed she was booted out of a bar on a boozy night out – and woke up with two unknown men in her house.

The fun-loving mum even joked that she would be open to creating an OnlyFans account – an adult subscription service – to share sexy snaps for money.

Without further adieu, Daily Star has rounded up the lucky men who got to link up with Ulrika over the years.

First marriage – John Turnbull

Ulrika’s first marriage was to cameraman John Turnbull, and it lasted five years.

They tied the knot in 1990 and moved to Berkshire the following year, but the former weather girl admitted she had been young and naive at the time.

Their marriage fell apart when Ulrika cheated on John.

She later said: “I was unfaithful to John. That is absolutely no defence and knowing what a painful thing it was to go through, I would never do it again to anyone. I look back at the younger me and the selfishness. I didn’t even think of the consequences, that comes with maturity.

“It was wrong and I’m not defending it, but I was so young when I married the first time… too young, I was only 23.”

Ulrika and John divorced in 1995, but they have one son together.

James Crossley

Ulrika used to date her Gladiators co-star James Crossley, who played Hunter on the challenge show.

The Swedish star had a brief, “physical” romance with the bodybuilder when they worked on the set of the show in 1996 – and he was six years younger than her at the time.

She opened up about the fling on Vicky Pattison’s podcast, The Secret To.

She said: “Obviously I dated Hunter for about a year and a half and away from the show he was amazing and the sweetest, sweetest man.

“He was only 22 when I think when I got together with him. Poor boy.”

Stan Collymore

Ulrika’s next high-profile relationship was then-footballer Stan Collymore, who used to play for Liverpool.

The pair were snapped together at various showbiz events like the Brit Awards 1998 and charity events.

They broke up in 1998 though, after he assaulted her in a bar in Paris, and he apologised publicly for the incident in June, during the 1998 World Cup.

Collymore blamed his actions on “petulance, jealousy and possibly having too much to drink”.

Sven-Goran Eriksson affair

Before the bombshell Sven scandal, Ulrika had a short-lived romance with German hotel manager, Markus Kempen.

They also share a daughter called Bo, but their relationship ended shortly after her birth, and Ulrika claimed he walked out on her when Bo was seriously ill.

Medics had to perform emergency surgery on the little one, and Ulrika later told Ok! Magazine: “I never knew there was such unhappiness, I really didn’t.”

Ulrika made the headlines once more in April 2002, when she confirmed reports that she had had an affair with then-England manager, Sven Goran Eriksson.

The Swedish football manager had a long-term girlfriend at the time called Nancu Dell’olio.

Revealing the affair, Jonsson explained that her relationship with Sven had ended, but that wasn’t before she ripped into Sven’s sex skills.

She said that having sex with Sven was “as exciting as an Ikea instruction manual.”

She quipped: “Putting together a Billy bookcase would have probably left me more satisfied.”

After the affair, Ulrika was given a column at the News of the World – where she often talked about Eriksson’s personal life.

Second marriage – Lance Gerrard-Wright

Ulrika met her next match when she was a presenter on Mr. Right in 2002.

She struck up a relationship with Lance-Gerrard-Wright, who had been a contestant on the dating show.

Ulrika was actually tasked with setting singleton Lance up with one of the ladies on the show, but it was Ulrika herself who ended up falling for him.

They married the following year, and they share their daughter, Martha.

When they split just a year later, Ulrika said: “If I ever say I’m marrying again, will you please shoot me?”

Third marriage – Brian Monet

Ulrika’s third husband was American advertising executive Brian Monet, and they tied the knot in March 2008.

Brian seemed to be ‘the one’ for Ulrika when she said: “I feel it’s all about the marriage and how we feel about one another. We were both dying to get married”

Sadly though, on April 2 2019, Ulrika announced she had split from Brian after 11 years of marriage – and welcoming their son Malcom.

She revealed that they had undergone relationship counselling in an attempt to rescue their marriage, but it didn’t work.

She said: “You can only resolve problems with another person.

“If I’m honest, getting another divorce age 51 is not where I thought I would be, so who knows? I just don’t know what shape my future will take.

“I can’t contemplate dating again. Then again, I’ve said I will never marry again before, and I did.”

Single life and sex drought

After her third marriage broke down, Ulrika hooked up with a hunk who approached her on social media.

The Swedish beauty had felt low after her “sexless marriage” with Brian, and she apparently endured nearly five years without sex.

She said: “I was living in a sexless marriage for nearly a decade. That just didn’t feel right. It felt unnatural and as if part of my life was over.”

At one point, she believed she would never have sex again.

Luckily though, she put an end to her five-year sex drought when a man approached her on social media, and they had a racy romp.

When Ulrika and the eligible bachelor hooked up, she was instantly attracted to him, and she even said it felt like she was ‘losing her virginity’ all over again.

Speaking to Loose Women, Ulrika revealed she had been feeling insecure about ageing and her body.

However, she has felt an “amazing sense of freedom” with her revived sex life.

She admitted: “I was nervous about whether I’d even remember how to even kiss.”

Ulrika went on: “With age comes all the insecurities about my body and ageing and all that stuff but there also came this amazing sense of freedom.

“I’m 52 and I just want to do what I want to do and I don’t care what anyone thinks.”

She said: “I don’t discourage one night stands. I don’t sit there and say, ‘Go out and…’

“What I’m saying is absolutely, we were taught as girls you should not sleep with someone on the first date. Why is that? It’s a natural desire, it’s an amazing, wonderful thing, as long as you’re protecting yourself. You should not feel bad about it.”

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk