The Swedish supermodel opens up about her rollercoaster career, flat-sharing in Paris with Melania Trump – and being ‘a bit of a rebel’
Victoria Silvstedt may not have had any movies to promote at the Cannes Film Festival, but when the Mirror met the 51-year-old at the iconic Hotel Du Cap in Antibes in a rare moment of quiet between exclusive parties, she looked every inch the movie star.
Warm and sweetly self-effacing about her colourful career as we sit down for coffee, the supermodel, Playmate and Miss World contestant, who shot to fame as a teenager, gestures out the window to the sea, where the sun is making the water look like a glittering bed of diamonds.
“How could you not love this?”, she smiles. “Cannes for me it’s the most glamorous event of the year. It’s the south of France, it is pure glamour. Walk a red carpet here, and you feel like the whole world is watching.”
She adds, “Sometimes designer friends offer to dress me, so I generally do a red carpet or two – mostly to show people I’m still alive, still here doing it, guys! It’s a little work and a lot of pleasure.”
Her first taste of fame came after Silvstedt participated in the Miss Sweden beauty pageant, and was chosen to represent her country in 1993 in Sun City, South Africa, eventually making the Top 10.
She was subsequently snapped up by a top modelling agency in Paris, and began working for various prestigious fashion houses, including Chanel, Christian Dior, Giorgio Armani, Givenchy and Valentino.
But the Swedish native, who is the face of anti-ageing brand Nuegevia and an ambassador for the Perfect World Foundation and Make A Wish Foundation, admits, those early days were far from easy.
“I was very, very naive. When I did the Miss World pageant, I was 18. I was alone, just figuring things out.
“Then I went straight to Paris for modelling, and that was the biggest nightmare of my life. I thought everything would go great. It was like a… cold shower!
“I arrived and the casting agents were like, “Oh, you’re too muscular, you’re too this, you’re too that,” plus, you didn’t feel safe at all. Everywhere you went, there were… uncomfortable situations.”
Famously, she shared a flat for a time with another model, now America’s First Lady, Melania Trump – and looks back on their Parisien experience with great fondness.
“We just stuck together. We were very, very supportive of each other. We’d actually stay home most of the time.”
She recalls, “Melania was very sweet, down to earth, but also so determined. She really wanted to make it. She has that very Slavic determination.
“She’d be like, OK, now we’re running up the stairs to burn off the calories – after we’d had a tuna salad! I remember her saying one day, “I want to be like Sofia Loren…” Look at her now, she does look like her. Her beauty is off-the-scale.”
Though they are no longer in touch, she says her former flatmate’s career trajectory is ‘incredible’.
“I ran into her once in New York before she became first lady, but she never thought ever that she would become a first lady, you know? It’s crazy. But she’s a strong woman, and very loving.”
During her time in Paris, Silvstedt was soon noticed by Hugh Hefner, who invited her to do a photo shoot for Playboy magazine in Los Angeles. She became the December 1996 Playmate of the Month, and was then chosen as the 1997 Playmate of the Year, after which she briefly lived in the famous Playboy Mansion.
Saying she’d hang out with the animals at the mansion’s private zoo, before getting her own place in LA, she says, “It was not only me, but a lot of wild animals! People read a lot of things now about all that place, but when I was there, Mr. Hefner was still married to Kimberly, and I arrived at the Playboy Mansion. I was greeted by her saying, “Welcome to the Playboy Mansion.”
“And my time there was super chill. I was living in the guest house. I was there for work and shoots and movie nights, and then we’d have the wild parties, obviously. But in my experience, Hugh was always the utmost gentleman.
“I have only great happy memories. It was a fun vibe, it was before social media. Everyone was just enjoying themselves. It was a different time.”
The Swedish star landed a gig on top American drama Meltrose Place in 1999, guest-starring as a Swedish nurse called Inga.
“I loved Melrose Place. I was a very sexy nurse ”, she laughs. “All the movies I did back in the day, I was like the ditzy Swedish blonde. But those days were fun. That’s how I got my name out there.”
One of her favourite people to have worked with over the years, she says, is supermodel Cindy Crawford – on a Christmas flick in Italy, Bodyguards, with Christian De Sica’s brother. “That was hilarious. And Cindy was a dream – she is so beautiful, so sweet.”
She also had a starring role in the comedy Boat Trip, with Cuba Gooding Jr and Bond icon Roger Moore – who she says was “the most impressive person I’ve ever worked with”
If she hadn’t moved across the pond as a teenager, though, life could have looked very different, she reflects, confessing that she could have ended up as a professional skier.
“I grew up skiing all my life, and I had my horses. I was either on my skis or in the stable with my horses. Getting into the modelling world was a coincidence. Then once you’re in it, you don’t want to get out because my God, it’s so exciting.”
But Silvstedt is most proud of the TV work she would get first in the States, then Italy and France – picking up the lingo as she went.
“I started doing a lot of Italian television and movies, that’s where I picked up Italian. I’m proud of conquering different languages – it’s the same with French, all my work out there.”
“You were either an actress or a TV host. I was triple-dipping! I went from modelling to TV, movies, hosting in Italy then hosting on TF1 in France for seven years. Then I put out an album.
“I’m eternally curious. Everything that I’ve done has just come to me. I’m usually like, why not? It’s about the energy you give out, and mine is light – I’m always happy, always positive.”
She seems uber confident, but Silvstedt admits, it wasn’t always that way. “When you’re younger, you take it all very seriously. What I’ve learned over the years is to close my eyes and ears to all the negativity and just follow my heart.”
The person she turns to most is her mum, Ulla, back in Sweden. “I call her about everything – even my outfits. And she’ll be like no, Victoria – too much boob, cover yourself up! Mom’s always there, not always agreeing with everything I do, but she’s very proud of me.”
At 51, Victoria is glowing and easily looks years younger – but laughing, says she’s stopped counting birthdays these days, and in her head is ‘in my 30s somewhere’.
“ I think I still tap into a childlike quality. I think that’s very important to hold onto. Maybe that’s what keeps me going, a childlike drive. I wake each morning and I’m excited.”
As for the secrets to her ageless looks, she admits a lot of it is down to her mum’s DNA – but she’s also changed her habits.
“ I don’t work ridiculously hard at it, but I try to. I used to not give a shit. Now, it’s about being a bit more balanced, not eating too much junk food. Living here in the South of France, it’s easy to stick to a healthy, tasty Mediterranean diet, with lots of fish.”
Her idol is Elizabeth Hurley. ‘I truly look up to her. That woman in a bikini?! She’s my inspiration.”
Silvstedt is based down the road from Cannes, in the exclusive enclave of Monaco. We suggest that her glamorous life would make a wonderful reality series – The Real Housewives of Monaco, perhaps?
“Funny you say that!”, she smiles. “ Netflix actually wanted a group of us to do a pilot, so we did. But I just wanted to be the businesswoman coming in, but they wanted drama, drama, drama.
“Then officials didn’t approve it, which I understand. It’s a special place, where people can live their lives and not be hounded by paparazzi.”
She’s called the French Riviera home for over 10 years now, and lives with her partner of many years by the sea. “I love it”, she explains. “ I can wake up, go hiking, have a dip – I think that’s why I feel so relaxed. We’re very happy here.”
Silvstedt never had children, but is content with her role as doting auntie, when she flies home to spend time with her siblings’ children – even though it was something she dreamed of at one point.
“it just didn’t happen. Maybe I will regret that one day. But right now, I’m content. I think if I didn’t have such a tight-knit family, maybe then I’d be desperate for children. But I get a lot of love. I could always use a surrogate one day. Who knows.”
For now, she ‘s taking life a day at a time – and admits, she holds her mum’s advice close. “She always told me, just follow your intuition and your heart. I’ve always been a rebel. I do what I want to do, and I deal with consequences. When people say no, I say go!“
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