Controversy seems to follow her around, but what is Ulrika Jonsson really like?

“I might start going out in just a pair of French knickers”

Call us psychic, but heat had a feeling this was going to be a tricky interview. Firstly, we had to ask about the whole John Leslie hoo ha. In 2003, Ulrika published her autobiography Honest, in which she shockingly revealed she had been raped in a hotel room in 1988. Ulrika has never revealed the identity of her attacker, but at the time, the finger was pointed at then This Morning presenter John Leslie, who Ulrika dated in the late 80s. A number of other women came forward and alleged Leslie had attacked them and he was forced to give up his job. After a ten-month investigation, Leslie was cleared of any charges but has not worked in mainstream TV since. It’s tough to know how to tackle this subject.

In recent years, the 38-year-old TV presenter has become rather defined by her tempestuous love life. In 1998, Ulrika ended her relationship with ex footballer Stan Collymore after he assaulted her in a bar in Paris. Some time after, she won a court order to stop him selling a video of them having sex together. In 2000, she had a daughter, Bo, with boyfriend Marcus Kempen. The German businessman walked out on Ulrika when Bo – who was born with a heart defect – was only days old. Next up was a highly improbable relationship with the England football manager Sven Goran Erikksson, who cheated on his long-term girlfriend Nancy D’Olio. In 2002, Ulrika presented the TV show Mr Right and ended up claiming the prize herself, former Army major Lance Gerrard Wright. He seemed a thoroughly decent and dashing chap and it looked like Ulrika had finally found happiness. The pair married in 2003 and their daughter Martha was born last year. But in September, the couple issued a statement saying they were separating and there were no third parties involved. We’ve been warned she won’t talk about the split.

We’re meeting her today to discuss her new workout DVD, Ulrika: The Body Plan but so far things aren’t going well. Ulrika is stuck in hellish London traffic and running an hour and half late. When she does turn up, by golly she is in a foul mood. She strides into the studio looking positively thunderous, wearing a ‘don’t mess’ face that would give Mutya from the Sugababes (RIP) a run for her money. With a feeling of dread mounting we walk to a nearby café to do the interview. Our exchange starts off like this:

Bloody traffic, it’s a nightmare isn’t it?

I don’t even want to talk about it.

OK, let’s talk about your fitness DVD…

You have to ask me a question; I don’t know what you want me to say.

[Inwardly - give us a chance love!] How is it different from other celebrity fitness DVDs?

Don’t know; I’ve never seen another one. [Breaks off and looks at her agent, who is inoffensively eating a salad at the end of the table] Oh God. You’re not going to sit there and eat that going [makes loud chewing noises] are you?

This is going well. Not. Can’t wait to ask her about John Leslie. Thankfully, as the minutes painfully tick by, Ulrika’s forehead visibly relaxes, her eyebrows unknot and she starts opening up. This is when we discover we actually quite like her. Straightforward, self deprecating and a mischievous sense of humour. She can still be a snappy madam at times though.

You have been looking very thin of late. Didn’t you say you’d overdone the exercising?

It wasn’t exactly that. I think I was exercising so much and I wasn’t replacing the same amount of fuel back in my body. I wasn’t eating any less. [Gets up to close the door] You’re going to put that in, aren’t you? ‘She got up three times to close the door…’ [Sits down again] There’s also the difficulty when you have children, you get distracted by them, pick at their food and don’t eat a proper meal yourself. And do you know what? I don’t think I am skinny. I am really happy with my body at the moment.

All of it?

Well, at one point; I seriously considered a breast reduction because they were really quite big, especially after being pregnant. It makes you feel fat when your boobs are big. But I have always wanted a toned body and I think I have one now. I bought a mini skirt recently, something I would have never ever bought before. Do you know what, I might go out without a skirt actually. [Laughs] Just French knickers.

In your newspaper column, you said you were sick of Carol Vorderman ‘moping around tearfully in a slinky black dress, crucifix and glam make up’ after the death of Richard Whiteley. Did you feel a bit bad afterwards?

I didn’t wish in any way to take her away her sorrow or mourning. That was not the point. What I felt uncomfortable with was; she was not his partner. I would have so stayed in the background. His death was not about her. I felt his long term partner (actress Kathy Apanowicz) was left in the shadows a bit.

Carol had worked with Richard on Countdown for over 20 years.

Of course she would talk about it, they were colleagues. I guess I just felt the projection of a sorrowful image and that moment didn’t belong to her.

Didn’t Carol say your comment was the ‘the lowest of the low’?

Oh yeah. I would have expected her to defend herself.

Can we expect a punch up on the red carpet if you two bump into each other?

If I saw her, we’re not going to be friends after that comment. But I had an opinion and I stand by it.

You’ve written about Sven and Nancy too. Did you have a bit of ‘Oh, should I be doing this?’ giggle when you sit there writing it?

Oh, it’s only a bit of fun. Nancy D’Oily-o.

Nancy who?

Nancy D’Oily-o. [At least we think that's what Ulrika said. Maybe it was ‘Nancy of the Oil'.] Some friends of mine in Sweden call her… [Starts laughing] No, I can’t say.

Oh go on!

Nancy Del Pornio. You can’t use that. Take that out. I can see the headline now. But Nancy has put herself out there, so she has got to expect a bit of stick. It’s all tongue in cheek.

Did Sven really wear built-up shoes?

No! I don’t know where that came from.

One word. Why?

He’s a very charming and nice guy. Very sweet.

Did he wear socks in bed?

[Laughs] It’s hard to remember. The lights were out and it was very, very dark. What makes you think we were in bed?

On the sofa then.

Yeah, whatever.

He’s got yellow teeth.

[Laughs]. What a funny thing to say. I know what you mean. I’ve got the name of a good dentist as well.

Sorry to hear about you and Lance. Are you OK?

[Deep breath] I’m getting there… I hope. It’s not what I would have hoped for and it’s been a really, really heavy time. Dreadful. It’s especially hard when you’ve got kids because you can’t go off and lose yourself for half an hour and have a sob. You have to keep going.

Celebrities seem to meet, get married and have a baby in the same time it takes the rest of us to have our first holiday together. Then they split up. What’s the rush?

I think you’re probably right, people are having babies before they get married. It’s disgusting, isn’t it? [Laughs.] Maybe it’s just people looking for things. In certain respects, it’s a long list of acquisitions. And people want to settle down and make things permanent, especially in such a fast moving world.

You and Lance met and married quickly. What was it for you?

It absolutely felt right and perfect at the time. I genuinely had every belief when I married my husband it would last forever. That was how it felt for me.

You’ve been criticised by some people for not giving your marriage a proper go.

People aren’t on the inside of a marriage and they don’t know what goes on. There were a lot of ‘I told you so’s’, but I don’t regret it. I just have to get used to the fact shit happens in life.

Do you think you might write another book in the next few years?

I don’t think so. The purpose of my autobiography was looking over my childhood and my first few years in the public. Now I feel I have more control over my life and it isn’t as crazy and whirlwind as it was when it was on the front page of The Sun.

Were you surprised by the furore the chapter on your attack caused?

I was, because there were far more things in the book and people chose to pick up on one thing. I did have quite a few letters from people had also been raped, so obviously it was an important thing to talk about. I certainly don’t regret putting it in; it was what I lived through.

What were people’s reactions to you at the time? Sympathy? Anger that John’s name had been dragged out in the open?

No, because I never dragged anyone’s name out. That wasn’t part of something I had anything to do with it. I have always maintained it was the act that was incriminating; it wasn’t the person who did it. [Ulrika was asked on the Jonathan Ross show if her attacker was famous and the speculation started from there].

Did you feel under pressure to say whether it was him?

There was nothing in that book to imply who it was. It was a witch hunt. Anyway, let’s not waste half an hour on that.

One more thing. Abi Titmuss said ‘You ruined his life’. How does that make you feel?

[Long pause and then shakes her head distainfully]. I have nothing to say about Abi Titmuss. She is… [Stops] I have nothing to say about it.

OK. Will we see you ending up on a Reality TV show sometime soon?

No. There is no sum of money that could make me go into the jungle or anything like that. I would rather pose naked upside down. Maybe I’ll bring a calendar out instead. [Laughs]. A pin up for the older woman.

Ulrika The Body Plan is out now.