Sylvie Meis
Sylvie Françoise Meis (born 13 April 1978),[2] known for sometime as Sylvie van der Vaart, is a Dutch television personality and model based in Germany.
Career edit
Netherlands edit
Born in Breda, Netherlands,[2] Meis is partly of Dutch East Indies origin.[3] She graduated from the University of West Brabant (Dutch: Hogeschool West-Brabant).[4] Aged 18, she decided that she wanted to be a model and was cast for various shoots by casting agencies. After becoming interested in television, she gained popularity through assignments at FoxKids and music station TMF.[5] She hosts several events at TMF, such as presenting the annual TMF-awards, and conducting interviews with international artists such as Britney Spears and Kylie Minogue. In addition, she features in video clips and the Dutch TV series Costa. She also introduced the Pure by Sylvie jewellery line to the Dutch market. Thereafter, she hosted the 2008 FIFA World Player of the Year award ceremony.
After being elected the Netherlands' Sexiest Female in 2003,[6] she started a relationship with then Ajax footballer Rafael van der Vaart. Due in part to the fame from their individual careers, they soon became the Netherlands' most famous "football couple". Their fame grew after their marriage on 10 June 2005 and live coverage of the wedding on SBS6, a Dutch television channel, with the broadcast gaining high ratings in the Netherlands; Sylvie took Rafael's last name, van der Vaart.
Germany edit
Meis and her then husband moved to Germany when he left Ajax to play for Bundesliga football club Hamburger SV. After her husband's 2008 transfer to Real Madrid, the van der Vaarts moved to Spain. Between 2008 and 2011, she was a judge on Das Supertalent, the German version of Simon Cowell's Got Talent series. In 2010 she took part in the third season of the German equivalent of Strictly Come Dancing, called Let's Dance. On 17 April 2010, Meis replaced the usual Deutschland sucht den Superstar judge Nina Eichinger for the final of the 7th season, after the latter was stuck in Los Angeles following flight restrictions as a result of the 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull.[7][8] Between 2011 and 2017 Meis has been hosting the show Let's Dance together with Daniel Hartwich. In 2018 she was replaced by former participant Viktoria Swarovski and instead returned to Das Supertalent as a judge.[5]
Following in the footsteps of famous entertainers such as Johannes Heesters, Linda de Mol and Rudi Carell, Meis is one of the most successful Dutch personalities active in Germany.[9]
Personal life edit
Meis is of partly Indo-European descent, her father being Dutch-Indonesian, her mother being Belgian.[10][11][12]
Meis was in a relationship with footballer Rafael van der Vaart from 2003. On 10 June 2005, the couple married, and on 28 May 2006, their son Damián Rafael was born. Some of the media described the couple as the "new Beckhams" but both of them denied the claims saying that they prefer to just live a normal life.[13] Their son Damián signed for the Ajax youth team in September 2023.[14]
On 16 June 2009, she announced that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and had undergone surgery in May 2009. She finished post-op chemotherapy and has been cancer-free since. In the mid-2009, Real Madrid wanted to sell Rafael van der Vaart, but he decided to stay in Madrid because Sylvie was undergoing cancer treatments there.[15]
In 2010, Meis admitted to having cheated on her husband, stating that van der Vaart found out through emails that she was having an affair with a KLM airline pilot which she believed was the beginning of the end of their marriage. On 2 January 2013, Meis acknowledged their separation[16] after he had struck her in front of their guests.[17] Their divorce was finalized in December 2013. On 12 April 2017, she became engaged to Charbel Aouad but the couple separated in October 2017. From 2020 to June 2023, Meis was married to Niclas Castello.
Meis is fluent in English,[18] Dutch, and German.
Filmography edit
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | UV | Monique[19] |
Television and media appearances edit
Meis has made several television appearances worldwide, including:
- Fox Kids (1999–2002, presenter)
- MTV Netherlands (2003, VJ)
- TMF Nederland (2003–2004, VJ)
- Das Supertalent (2008–2011, 2018, judge)
- Let's Dance (2010, participant)
- Let's Dance (2011–2017, presenter)
- Wedden dat ik het kan (2016, presenter)
Awards edit
- 2003: The Netherlands' Sexiest Female[6]
- 2011: Media Women of the Year[20]
- 2012: Bayerischer Fernsehpreis (together with Daniel Hartwich)[21]
References edit
- ^ a b c d . MSN (in Dutch). 8 July 2006. Archived from the original on 12 July 2008.
- ^ a b "Sylvie Meis: Was Sie über Mann, Alter und Größe wissen sollten". FOCUS Online (in German). Retrieved 11 February 2021.
- ^ "Indische vrouwen in het Nederlandse culturele leven". Kunst en cultuur / Arbeid en Economische zelfstandigheid / Scholing en leren (in Dutch). Centrum voor de Geschiedenis van Migranten. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
De komst van ongeveer 350.000 Nederlands-Indische repatrianten blijkt een verrijking voor het culturele leven in Nederland. [...] Verder kennen wij natuurlijk Georgina Verbaan, Sylvie Meis, Patty Brard, Sandra Reemer en Patricia Paay.
- ^ (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 7 December 2007. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
- ^ a b "Sylvie van der Vaart wechselt die Seiten – Von der Tänzerin zur Moderatorin bei "Let's Dance"". RTL Television. 13 March 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
- ^ a b "Jurymitglied Sylvie van der Vaart". rtl.de. 6 September 2011.
- ^ "Sylvie van der Vaart wird heute DSDS-Jurorin Nina Eichinger ersetzen". Bunte (in German). 17 April 2010. Retrieved 17 April 2010.
- ^ "Asche über Europa: Vom Vulkan-Ausbruch zum Verkehrs-Chaos". Die Welt (in German). 17 April 2010. Retrieved 17 April 2010.
- ^ . Die Welt (in Dutch). 17 April 2010. Archived from the original on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
- ^ (in Dutch) Sylvie is quoted saying: "Ik heb namelijk Indisch bloed." in Dutch newspaper article (Telegraaf). See transcript in her online wedding book: . Archived from the original on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 4 July 2011.
- ^ (in Dutch) Article: 'Indo women in Dutch cultural life.' on Dutch Migration website. Retrieved 14 July 2011.
- ^ (in Dutch) News article on Dutch Indo website. Retrieved 14 July 2011.
- ^ Sylvie and Rafael[permanent dead link] Van der Vaart Official
- ^ "Ajax sign Rafael Van Der Vaart's Teenage Son Damian on One Year Deal".
- ^ "Wife's Cancer Kept Van Der Vaart In Madrid". Australian FourFourTwo. 4 September 2010. Retrieved 18 October 2010.
- ^ "Ehe kaputt – Schläge in der Silvesternacht". Stern (in German). 2 January 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
- ^ "Marriage crumbles after Rafael hits Sylvie van der Vaart". The Himalayan Times. 3 January 2013. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
But Holland's answer to Posh and Becks then announced that their seven year marriage was over
- ^ Rhodes, Tom; Sylvie van der Vaart (21 August 2009). . Kevin Masters Show starring Tom Rhodes. Netherlands: RTL Nederland. Archived from the original on 14 August 2013. Retrieved 10 January 2015Sylvie's interview in English with Dutch subtitles
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link) - ^ UV at IMDb
- ^ Sylvie Meis: the former van der Vaart’s wife is a priceless beauty from Holland // Speaker's Corner
- ^ "Let's Dance-Moderatoren bekommen Bayerischen Fernsehpreis". Retrieved 4 March 2022.
External links edit
- Official website (in German)
- Sylvie Meis on Facebook
- Sylvie van der Vaart at Fashion Model Directory
- Sylvie van der Vaart at IMDb
- Sylvie Meis at AlloCiné (in French)