Eli Engum Hagen (born 26 October 1947 in

Dombås is a village or small town in Dovre Municipality in northern Innlandet county, Norway. The village serves as the commercial centre for the upper Gudbrandsdalen valley. It lies at an important junction of roads with the European route E6 highway ...

Oppland Oppland is a former county in Norway which existed from 1781 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020. The old Oppland county bordered the counties of Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The co ...

) is a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

television presenter and the wife and secretary of the Norwegian politician Carl I. Hagen, former leader of the Progress Party. In recent years she has also made a name for herself as a television personality. The Norwegian author Jan Martin Iversen credited her with a significant role in the development and survival of Progress Party in his 1998-book about the first 25 years of the party.

Mishap while driving

In November 2001 she also caused headlines when, after dropping off her husband at an official dinner at the Royal Palace in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

, she accidentally drove her

Volkswagen Passat The Volkswagen Passat is a series of D-segment, large family cars manufactured and marketed by the Germany, German automobile manufacturer Volkswagen since 1973, and now in its eighth generation. It has been marketed variously as the Dasher, Sa ...

down the steps in front of the palace, with the political press corps as shocked onlookers. The following morning

Dagbladet ''Dagbladet'' (lit.: ''The Daily Magazine'') is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally ''Dagbladet'' is considered the main liberal newsp ...

- one of the largest newspapers in Norway - filled its frontpage with a picture of the tire marked stairs and the headline "Eli took the stairs - with her car".

Autobiography

In 2006 she created more headlines with the release of her autobiography ''Elskerinne, sekretær og hustru - Gift med Carl (Mistress, Secretary and Wife - Married to Carl)'', where she delivered frank observations and scornful descriptions of active, retired and even dead politicians. In the same book she mentioned her embarrassing drive down the palace stairs, and admitted she nearly "died of shame".

Career in television

In 2008 she had her debut as regular co-host of the talkshow ''Studio 5'', a Norwegian version of The View. Since this she has become quite an active TV personality, appearing in numerous television shows, often displaying her outspoken nature mixed with irony and self ridicule.

External links

Dagbladet
(on Jan Martin Iversens book) {{DEFAULTSORT:Hagen, Eli 1947 births Living people People from Dovre People from Dombås Norwegian Christians Progress Party (Norway) politicians Norwegian television personalities