Stasera Brigitte Nielsen sits opposite Francesca Fagnani a Beastson Rai 2. It’s not the first time he’s returned to Italy to talk about himself, and it probably won’t be the last. Why Brigitte Nielsen is one of those characters that this country has felt as its own for decadesalthough Danish by birth and American by adoption. He hosted Sanremo, he was the Black Witch in Fantaghiròhe modeled for Versace and Armani when Milan was the fashion capital of the world. Her name immediately evokes something: those over forty remember her everywhere, those who are younger discover her and immediately understand why we still talk about her.
Brigitte Nielsen, a career built across three continents
Brigitte Nielsen was born in 1963 on the outskirts of Copenhagen and began working as a model in the late Seventies, modeling for Versace, Armani and Ferré between New York, Paris and Milan. Cinema arrives in 1985 with Red Sonya next to Arnold Schwarzenegger, then Rocky IV And Cobra with Sylvester Stallone. But it was with Italy that he built his longest bond: in 1987 hosts the television program Festival on Rai with Pippo Baudo and Lorella Cuccarini, and five years later he returns to the stage of Sanremo Festival 1992 as co-host, always alongside Baudo.
Brigitte Nielsen with Poppo Baudo at the Sanremo Festival 1992. (credit: ©fotostore)
For the whole nineties it is the Black Witch by Fantaghiròthe character that an entire generation of Italian children still remembers. For about fifteen years she lived in Italy for work, and the country remained with her. In more recent years she returned to the cinema with Creed II in 2018, again alongside Stallone, and in 2022 he took part in the American series The Guardians of Justice.
Five husbands, five children and a life that has never done things by halves
Brigitte Nielsen’s love life has dominated gossip newspapers around the world for twenty years. She married five times. The first husband was Kasper WindingDanish composer, from whom he had Julian, now 42 years old. The second, and most famous, Sylvester Stallone: they met on the set of Rocky IV in 1985 and they married the same year in Beverly Hills. Nineteen months later she packs her bags and leaves.
Sylvester Stallone and Brigitte Nielsen in 1986. (Photo by Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
The actress and model has always talked about a possessive and controlling man, capable of transforming a love story into something much more difficult to manage. She signed a confidentiality agreement that still binds her to some details, but over the years she has leaked enough to make it clear that She paid the price for that marriage above all, also in terms of her career.
Then the photographer Sebastian Copelandlater the rally driver Raoul Meyerwith whom he had Douglas, 33, and Raoul Jr., 30. From the relationship with the American football player Mark Gastineau was born instead Killian, 36 years old. The last marriage, the one he held, is with Mattia Dessì, Sardinian, 15 years younger than hermet by chance in a restaurant in Lugano. Among the sons, Douglas and Raoul founded together RD/19, a brand of artisanal gin distilled and bottled in Italywhile Killian has turned towards fashion and acting in our country.
Brigitte Nielsen with Matteo Dessì and their sons Killian, Douglas and Raoul Jr in 2023. (Photo by Gisela Schober/Getty Images)
The daughter at 54, alcohol and life today in Palm Springs
The most surprising chapter in its history is also the most recent. In 2018, at 54 years old, Brigitte Nielsen gave birth to her fifth daughter, Fridathanks to frozen eggs at age 40. Frida is 7 today and is the center of his life. He is still at his side Mattia Dessìwith whom he lives in Palm Springs, California. In between, however, there was the darkest period: the alcohol addiction which consumed her for years, with a deep crisis in 2003 and a photo taken in a park in Los Angeles in 2012, in a clear state of alteration, which went around the world.
A lot has passed since that photo, and she has never stopped talking about it with a frankness that few allow themselves. At 62 she has the face of someone who has truly lived, and perhaps this is exactly the reason why Francesca Fagnani wanted her to Beasts: Because people who have nothing to hide are the most interesting to listen to.
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