For most people, words like “glamor model”, “playboy” and “scandal” come to mind when you think of svenske Victoria Silvstedt (47). Now, however, she has gone in a completely different direction, and perhaps few people know that Silvstedt earns a living by being a stockbroker.
Victoria Silvstedt’s shock revelation: – I was unfaithful
But the 47-year-old has over the years earned far more titles than glamor model and stockbroker. Therefore, Dagbladet has taken a deep dive to find out more about the Swede.
Sports injury
Silvstedt grew up in a small village in northern Sweden and was active in alpine skiing from the age of five. When she was 16, however, she injured her shoulder in a serious accident during a competition, which put an end to her sports career. She said this in a big interview with Monaco Life.
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The father, who had hoped that she would make it all the way to the Olympics, was disappointed, while the mother took the opportunity to send a picture of her daughter to a beauty contest called Miss Hawaiian Tropic.
Silvstedt ended up as number two, but in her luggage she also got a contract with the largest model agency in Stockholm, after being discovered by a scout who was present.
The net boils after this
After participating in both Miss Sweden and Miss World, she left her home country in favor of France and Paris.
– I told my mother that I would come back after the summer. I never came back, she told Monaco Life.
Benjamin Ingrosso is in the Youtube series «Klarna Drops-by», where he shows off his home. Video: Klarna / Red Carpet
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Stayed with Melania
The time in Paris, however, did not turn out as she had imagined.
Silvstedt reminisced and said that she struggled to get a job as a model in the fashion city. She was the tall, blonde, muscular woman who was not really what the Parisian fashion houses wanted at all. They asked her to cut her hair, lose weight and simply tone it down.
Throws away the clothes
– I was in shock. I thought modeling would be easy for me, but Paris was a cold shower. I did about twelve castings a day, and I did not fit in anywhere, she said in the interview.
Eventually she got some jobs, changed agencies and moved in with her friend Melania Knauss – now best known as Melania Trump (52).
COHABITANTS: Victoria Silvstedt and Melania Knauss, now Trump, were cohabitants in Paris. Here with the latter’s husband, Donald Trump. Photo: Baron / REX / NTB
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– Melania Trump and I were very close. We had the same goals, both were far away from our families and really had no other friends. She was lovely – very driven, stubborn and serious. Since we are different types and worked for different agencies, we did not compete for the same jobs. At night, after running around all day, we went out and bought tuna, corn, lettuce and tomato – and that was dinner. Then Melania, who was super thin, would say, ‘Oh no, we ate too much. We have to run up and down the stairs 15 times !, Silvstedt said in an interview with Forbes.
The duo lived together for a year.
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– A big scandal
One of the things Silvstedt is best known for is the time she was in Playboy.
It all started when she was discovered by another Playboy model when she was in Palm Springs. The model, whose name was Jennifer Driver, chatted with Playboy boss Hugh Hefner and sold her in as “the new Anna Nicole Smith”.
Hefner flew her to Los Angeles, and thus Paris was a chapter in the past.
PLAYBOY. Victoria Silvstedt with Playboy boss Hugh Hefner. Here from 1997. Photo: Damian Dovarganes / AP / NTB
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– In the beginning it was a big scandal; it was over all the news that I was this year’s first Swedish Playboy model. I remember my mom asking me why I was in Los Angeles for so long, and I just said I did a shoot. Finally, she asked for a phone number to reach me, and when she called and heard “Playboy mansion” she was confused and hung up, she told Monaco Life.
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TV star
After being in the United States for a few years, the trip went back to Europe, more specifically Italy. She was to be in a TV program, and therefore had to learn the language at record speed.
Several film roles later, she was offered a role in the French version of the program “Fortune Wheel”. The show was a huge success with seven million viewers every night, and it was the highest ranked game show in France, according to the 47-year-old.
Got fired for inappropriate behavior
She also got her own reality series, “Victoria Silvstedt: My Perfect Life”. It was only one season when Silvstedt was exhausted by the cameras and the drama chase from the production. In retrospect, she stated that she would never do such a thing again.
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– Lost half the money
Silvstedt was only 21 years old when she became Playmate of the Year, and began to land several big deals. Eventually, the money began to roll in.
– I worked all the time, put money in an account without interest and was repeatedly tricked by investors. I was all alone, far from my family, and lived in LA and later in Paris. In the beginning, I used all the money I earned – because you live in the present and you are young, Silvstedt admitted to Forbes.
Mocked ex-wife over sex scene: – Hated it
– But then I got a big wake-up call after the financial crash in 2008, and I lost half of my money. I was in shock. Now it’s me who controls which shares and bonds I buy. It became much easier when I settled in Monaco ten years ago because when you shop here you do not have to report the winnings, so I could build up a great portfolio with the banks. Trading is more exciting than modeling, she explained, and at the same time emphasized that it is definitely a world of men.
