Victoria Silvstedt was born on the 19th of September, 1974, in Skelleftea, Sweden -- a small village very close to the Arctic Circle. She was raised with an older sister and a younger brother in her then middle class family. article continued below...

Growing up, she spent her winters skiing professionally, but at 18 she decided to enter a different competition. Victoria entered the Miss Sweden contest and represented Sweden in the 1993 Miss World Pageant. Although she didn't win, she did come in as one of the top ten contestants.

After the pageant, Victoria left her small town in hot pursuit of fame. She found herself in Paris where she began modeling professionally. Standing at 5'9", it wasn't very difficult for the stunner to get modeling gigs.

Three years later, Play.boy discovered her and she became Miss December 1996 and the 1997 Playmate of the Year.

It didn't take long for the blonde beauty to land a contract with Guess? jeans, following in the footsteps of models Eva Herzigova and Shana Zadrick. Victoria's career has been mounting ever since, with appearances in different television shows such as Melrose Place and MTV's The Real World. She even made a guest appearance in the film Baseketball.

Victoria now lives in the United States, where she pursues her modeling career. She is also on her way to being featured in films, while continuing her pusuit for more professional modeling contracts. Her most recent accomplishment is the recording of a new album, where her first release is entitled Hello Hey. Although it's not big in the States, it has gone gold in Europe

Her favorite hobbies are horseback riding and downhill skiing.

• 1997 Spokesmodel for Guess jeans
• Playboy playmate of the Month December 1996
• First runner-up Miss Sweden
• Playboy Playmate of the year 1997