Sylvie Françoise Meis (born 13 April 1978), known for sometime as Sylvie van der Vaart, is a Dutch television personality and model based in Germany.

Career

Netherlands

Born in

Breda Breda () is a city and municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Brabant. The name derived from ''brede Aa'' ('wide Aa' or 'broad Aa') and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. Breda has ...

, Netherlands, Meis is partly of

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

origin. She graduated from the University of West Brabant ( nl, Hogeschool West-Brabant). 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. She hosts several events at TMF, such as presenting the annual TMF-awards, and conducting interviews with international artists such as

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...

and

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinve ...

. 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 The FIFA World Player of the Year was an association football award presented annually by the sport's governing body, FIFA, between 1991 and 2015 at the FIFA World Player Gala. Coaches and captains of international teams and media representativ ...

award ceremony. After being elected the Netherlands' Sexiest Female in 2003, she started a relationship with then

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...

footballer

Rafael van der Vaart Rafael Ferdinand van der Vaart (born 11 February 1983) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder, and is currently the assistant manager of Danish 2nd Division club Esbjerg fB. Van der Vaart began his c ...

. 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

Meis and her then husband moved to Germany when he left Ajax to play for

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

football club

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three ...

. After her husband's 2008 transfer to

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

, the van der Vaarts moved to Spain. Between 2008 and 2011, she was a judge on ''

Das Supertalent ''Das Supertalent'' (''Germany's Got Talent'', ''Got Talent Germany)'' is a German talent show, part of the internationally successful ''Got Talent franchise'', presented by Lola Weippert and Chris Tall. Just like in all other versions of the f ...

'', the German version of Simon Cowell's ''

Got Talent ''Got Talent'' is a British talent show TV format conceived and owned by Simon Cowell's SYCOtv company. It has spawned spin-offs in over 69 countries, in what is now referred to as the 'Got Talent' format, similar to that described by Fremantle ...

'' series. In 2010 she took part in the third season of the German equivalent of

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 ...

, called '' Let's Dance''. On 17 April 2010, Meis replaced the usual ''

Deutschland sucht den Superstar ''Deutschland sucht den Superstar'' (''DSDS''; "Germany is looking for the Superstar") is a German reality talent show. Part of the ''Idol'' franchise, it was created by British media mogul Simon Fuller as a spin-off from the British show ''P ...

'' judge Nina Eichinger for the final of the 7th season, after the latter was stuck in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

following flight restrictions as a result of the

2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull Between March and June 2010 a series of volcanic events at Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland caused enormous disruption to air travel across Western Europe. The disruptions started over an initial period of six days in April 2010. Additional locali ...

. Between 2011 and 2017 Meis has been hosting the show ''Let's Dance'' together with

Daniel Hartwich Daniel Hartwich (born 18 August 1978) is a German TV presenter. Biography Hartwich's mother is a nurse. After completing his ''Abitur'' in 1998, he studied German and political science at Goethe University in Frankfurt. During his studies, he b ...

. In 2018 she was replaced by former participant Viktoria Swarovski and instead returned to ''Das Supertalent'' as a judge. Following in the footsteps of famous entertainers such as

Johannes Heesters Johan Marius Nicolaas Heesters (5 December 1903 – 24 December 2011), known professionally as Johannes Heesters, was a Dutch actor of stage, television and film, as well as a vocalist of numerous recordings and performer on the concert stag ...

Linda de Mol Linda Margaretha de Mol (born 8 July 1964 in Hilversum) is a successful Dutch television presenter and actress in the Netherlands and Germany. She is the sister of TV-producer and Endemol co-founder John de Mol, and has frequently appeared i ...

and Rudi Carell, Meis is one of the most successful Dutch personalities active in Germany.

Personal life

upMeis in 2010 Meis is of partly

Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutc ...

descent, her father being Dutch-Indonesian, her mother being Belgian. Meis was in a relationship with footballer

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. On 16 June 2009, she announced that she had been diagnosed with

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...

and had undergone surgery in May 2009. She finished post-op

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherap ...

and has been cancer-free since. In the mid-2009,

wanted to sell Rafael van der Vaart, but he decided to stay in Madrid because Sylvie was undergoing cancer treatments there. 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 KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, legally ''Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V.'' (literal translation: Royal Aviation Company Plc.), is the flag carrier airline of the Netherlands. KLM is headquartered in Amstelveen, with its hub at nearby Amste ...

airline pilot which she believed was the beginning of the end of their marriage. On 2 January 2013, Meis acknowledged their separation after he had struck her in front of their guests. Their divorce was finalized in December 2013. On 12 April 2017, she became engaged to Charbel Aouad but the couple separated in October 2017. Meis is fluent in English, Dutch, and German.

Filmography

Television and media appearances

Meis has made several television appearances worldwide, including: *

Fox Kids Fox Kids (originally known as Fox Children's Network and later as the Fox Kids Network; stylized as FOX KIDS) was an American children's block programming, programming block and branding for a slate of international children's television channel ...

(1999–2002, presenter) *

MTV Netherlands MTV Nederland and België is a Dutch speaking free-to-cable television channel broadcasting in the Netherlands. It launched as MTV NL on 12 September 2000. Before the start of country-specific channels, the Pan-European version of MTV aired in ...

(2003, VJ) *

TMF Nederland TMF (abbreviation of The Music Factory) was a 24-hour music channel operated by Viacom International Media Networks in the Netherlands. The channel was previously in every standard TV package, but it ceased operating on 1 September 2011. The chan ...

(2003–2004, VJ) * ''

'' (2008–2011, 2018, judge) * '' Let's Dance'' (2010, participant) * ''Let's Dance'' (2011–2017, presenter) * ''Wedden dat ik het kan'' (2016, presenter)

Awards

* 2003: The Netherlands' Sexiest Female * 2011: Media Women of the Year * 2012:

Bayerischer Fernsehpreis Bayerischer Fernsehpreis (the Bavarian TV award) is an award presented by the government of Bavaria, Germany since 1989. The prize symbol is the "Blue Panther", a figure from the Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory. The prize money is €10,000 (Spe ...

(together with

)

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Meis, Sylvie 1978 births Living people People from Breda Dutch people of Indonesian descent Dutch people of Belgian descent Dutch television actresses Dutch female models Association footballers' wives and girlfriends Dutch expatriates in Germany RTL Group people