TIME TO UNLEASH MY COUGAR
EXCLUSIVE
SHE’S been single for more than two years and now Ulrika Jonsson is ready to become a cougar and find love with a younger man.
The telly presenter has signed up to reality show Celebs Go Dating to find a fella.
She’s put her complicated love life in the hands of the show’s matchmakers – and lowered the age limit of potential suitors.
Asked if she’s ready to date a younger man, Ulrika smiles: “Yeah, it’s about the maturity of the person so I’ve kind of given them a little free rein in that department!
“I guess I’ve been slightly cautious of dating men my age because, from my experience, they seem to come across as pretty f***ing dull. I don’t want dull anymore, I want to have fun.”
Ulrika, 54, divorced her third husband, American ad exec Brian Monet, 52, in 2019 admitting they had sex just once in the last eight years of their marriage.
Since then the mum of four has been documenting her single life, detailing wild nights out with men she met online.
But Ulrika says she’s sick of the “disposable world” of dating apps.
“I think I’m quite old fashioned, and I’m quite old as well,” she explains.
Loved
“I’ve had loads of conversations with people and some didn’t go anywhere, that’s a little bit soul-destroying.
“There’s a feeling people are always looking over your shoulder to see what’s next, so it’s a conveyor belt and it’s a numbers game.
“You can’t just go, ‘Oh, I’m going to concentrate on this person’. You have to throw your neck out because out of a hundred, you’ll be lucky if you have a good match with one person or maybe two.”
Ulrika wed first hubby, cameraman John Turnbull, aged 23. Famous exes have included England coach Sven-göran Eriksson and footballer Stan Collymore.
She met second husband, ex-army major Lance Gerrard-wright while hosting a dating show called Mr Right. It lasted three years.
Despite the list of break-ups, Ulrika says she doesn’t think she is unlucky in love.
“I’ve loved a great deal and been in love and had some great relationships. I think that just because relationships come to an end doesn’t mean that’s always a negative,” she says.
And, being the oldest on the show, she sees herself as standing up for other women her age who are dating.
Ulrika adds: “I want to try and normalise the fact that women in their fifties are still alive, still viable, still able creatures and members of society who deserve their place just as much.
“You just have to embrace it and go wild, you only have one life!”
feedback@people.co.uk Celebs Go Dating starts Monday, January 17 at 9pm on E4