Kelly van der Veer
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Kelly van der Veer (often known as Kelly "Big Brother") is a Dutch former Big Brother contestant, singer and television personality. She was born a male named Ferry on 6 May 1980, but underwent sex reassignment surgery at the age of 19.
She currently resides in Hilversum and is 186 centimetres tall. Her childhood idol was Barbie.
As the child Ferry, she began her career as a member of Kinderen voor Kinderen, where she can be heard on the ensemble's album releases 12 through 15.
A few years later in 1997, still before her transition, she won "De Travestiet Show" competition where she entered as the youngest participant. However, it was her participation in Big Brother - The Battle that brought her celebrity status. Kelly was one of the finalists.
She currently does a comedy item called "Just Kel" on Dutch talk show Jensen and has also appeared in a Big Brother spin-off show called Hotel Big Brother[1].
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[edit] Early Life
Kelly has said that her formative years were the most difficult phase of her life. She was often mistaken for a girl and frequently had to face ridicule because of this. She saw an escape from her plight in gaining prominence as a media personality and therefore participated in "De Travestiet Show" in her early teenage years.
[edit] Career
[edit] Beginning
She was a finalist at the 2002 edition of the Dutch Big Brother and one of the favourites to win it. She was one of the controversial participants in that she had sex with an unsuspecting fellow participant Andries, who wasn't aware that she was a transsexual. [2]At the end of the season, she performed her single , "I'm what I am" which was released shortly thereafter.
Van der Veer collaborated with Andries de Jong, one of her fellow contestants at Big Brother, on the autobiographical book Kelly, which appeared in a Dutch paperback edition in 2006 (ISBN 9-027-43984-2).
Kelly released her first CD, I am what I am, in January 2002. However, it attracted only lukewarm response and garnered below average sales in the market.
In 2004, Kelly had a short cameo appearance as an unnamed lesbian in the Dutch movie Gay. The film, however, was not very successful at the box office as it did not appeal to the contemporary image of homosexuals in the Netherlands.[citation needed]
[edit] Future
After gaining prominence in her home country the Netherlands, Kelly currently plans to gain a foothold in America. She has recently taken up part-time residence in Florida.[citation needed]
[edit] Trivia
- Kelly scored 77 in a national level IQ test according to BNN[3] (A female orangutan also did the test and allegedly scored 75.)
- Her name translates to "Kelly of the feather" when translated from Dutch to English.
[edit] References
- ^ Bekende Nederlanders krijgen sleutel Hotel Big Brother - De Telegraaf
- ^ Kelly's participation in Dutch Big Brother - Talpa.tv
- ^ De Nationale IQ Test 2006 - bnn.nl
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
Categories: Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | Living people | Big Brother contestants | 1980 births | Dutch television personalities | Dutch television actors | Dutch musicians | Transgender and transsexual musicians | LGBT people from the Netherlands | Big Brother NL | Transgender and transsexual people | Dutch models | Dancing on Ice | Natives of North Holland
