| Vendela Kirsebom | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 12, 1967 Stockholm, Sweden |
Vendela Maria Kirsebom (born January 12, 1967) is a Norwegian-Swedish model and actress living in Nesodden, Norway.
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Vendela Kirsebom was born in Stockholm, Sweden to a Norwegian mother; her Swedish father was of Turkish descent. At age 13, Kirsebom was discovered in a Stockholm restaurant by Eileen Ford herself. At 18, she graduated from the Rudolf Steiner School and moved to Italy to pursue a modeling career under the guidance of the famous Ford Models. Contracted with Elizabeth Arden, she moved to the United States to work as Almay's spokesperson. She has represented Elizabeth Arden, Revlon Lasting fragrance, Lay's, Barbour, Diesel, Hanes, JH Collectibles, Lipton, Mikimoto, and Victoria's Secret. Her model agencies are Mikas in Sweden and Cathy Quinn Models, INC in the U.S.
She has appeared on the magazine covers of Bride's (US), Flare (Canada), Shape (US), FHM (UK), and Zest (US) and has been featured multiple times in the pages of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
She appeared in Batman and Robin in 1997 and The Parent Trap, alongside Lindsay Lohan and Dennis Quaid, in 1998. She was also featured in the Disney Channel's Model Behavior with Justin Timberlake and Maggie Lawson. She appeared as herself in 1995 episodes of The Larry Sanders Show and Murphy Brown, as well as the 2005 TV-movie sequel Romy and Michele: In the Beginning. She also lent her voice to a character on Johnny Bravo. In 1999, she hosted the Swedish music competition Melodifestivalen 1999. She currently hosts the 2nd cycle of Norway's Next Top Model and the 4th cycle of Sweden's Next Top Supermodel. Additionally, she appeared in a 10th-season episode of America's Next Top Model, judging the posing challenge with instructor Benny Ninja.
In 1996, she married Norwegian politician Olaf Thommessen, a Roman Catholic of French and Norwegian descent. They separated in 2007 after 11 years of marriage and Vendela moved to Oslo with their two daughters, Julia and Hannah. In addition to Swedish and Norwegian, she speaks German, Italian and English fluently.[1] Kirsebom still is a very active figure in the international model community, and also acts as goodwill ambassador for UNICEF.