Celebs Go Dating agent Paul Brunson has revealed Ulrika Jonsson used to “hide in the corner” on the set of the Channel 4 show – in unaired scenes from this year’s series.
The dating agent also said the 54-year-old Swedish star had a “self love problem” and battled with the public’s perception of her as a big personality during the series, but she was one of the sweetest stars he’d worked with.
Speaking exclusively to Daily Star, suave Paul dished on fan-favourite Ulrika’s dating life, and what the mum-of-four was really like off camera.
Paul said one of his favourite moments from this year’s series “only made the edit a little bit”, and it showed Ulrika making a surprisingly shy entrance onto the set during the first mixer – which usually sees the celebs introduce themselves to each other.
(Image: Channel 4)
As Ulrika was such a big deal, the crew set it up so the Swedish stunner was the last star to enter, and a special space on camera was waiting for her when she walked into the room, so she could make an epic entrance.
However, it didn’t all go to plan as Ulrika decided to snub the space and rush over to the corner to hide away.
Speaking about the moment, the dating agent said: “When we started filming, I was being driven in to the first mixer and someone said ‘I heard Ulrika Jonsson is on the show!’, right?
“I got to set, people in the crew were like ‘Oh my god, Ulrik Jonsson’s on the show’, we heard some of the celebs talking. It’s cool to meet everyone… ‘But I can’t wait to meet Ulrika Jonsson’.
(Image: E4)
“So they set it up so that all the celebs arrive first and Ulrika arrives last. Normally, the celeb who’s arriving last – that’s the big celeb, right? She arrives last, you think she’s going to be ‘Oh my god, that’s Ulrika Jonsson!’.
“But she shows up so small, and she actually went and hid. They gave her a space in the middle, between the celebs, and she went over to the side and hugged the side.”
Paul went on to explain that she would shy away at every mixer they put on, adding: “Every mixer we would go to, she would stand in the corner, stand off to the side. You could tell she’s struggling with who she is, how she shows up, how she presents.”
He continued that Ulrika’s biggest challenge on the show was handling the public’s perception of her as a big personality.
(Image: Channel 4)
Paul said: “Her challenge was the public sees her as someone who’s so much bigger, if you will, than how she sees herself, and that’s a really big thing to have to deal with.”
Revealing more unaired Ulrika moments, the dating guru later said Ulrika would bake fresh bread for him and his co-stars, Anna Williamson and Tom-Read Wilson.
He said: “I love her… she would come in and make things for us, which is the sweetest thing in the world. She would make fresh bread for me and Anna and Tom. She is such a sweet soul, and I think when you see her with the tattoos and maybe know her history, you don’t realise how sweet a person she is.”
Despite her history of relationships with more mature men, Ulrika dated lots of younger hunks during her stint on the show.
(Image: E4)
When asked why he thought Ulrika has been opting for younger lads, Paul replied: “Normally anyone who feels very youthful themselves, they want to associate themselves with youth.
“The challenge that folks like that have, including the challenge that Ulrika has, is that you end up dismissing a significant number of people your own age, but you also end up dismissing yourself.”
He continued: “The fact that she doesn’t date anyone her age, she didn’t realise it until she came to the agency, but if you don’t want to date anyone your age, that means you actually have a self-love problem.”
Paul added: “There were larger issues that we were dealing with, with Ulrika. Years and years and years of her feeling small.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
