Petter Andre Pilgaard (born 20 February 1980) is a Norwegian television celebrity who gained national fame during the first season of the Norwegian version of ''

Paradise Hotel ''Paradise Hotel'' is an American reality television program. In the show, a group of singles live in a luxurious hotel resort, competing to see who can stay in the hotel the longest. Each week, the contestants pair off into couples, and must s ...

''. He won the competition together with Benedicte Valen, and the two shared the

NOK Nok is a village in Jaba, Nigeria, Jaba Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria. The village is an archeological site. Archaeology The discovery of terracotta figurines at this location caused its name to be used for the Nok culture, ...

300,000 (about USD 50,000) prize money.

Early life

Pilgaard who hails from

Stabekk Stabekk is a suburban centre in the municipality of Bærum, Norway, west of Oslo. It is predominantly a residential area, with many residents commuting to Oslo. As of 2005 the population was 6,261. Bærum has the highest income per capita and the hi ...

Bærum Bærum () is a list of municipalities of Norway, municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Akershus County, Norway. It forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a populatio ...

, Norway, has previously worked as a

financial adviser A financial adviser or financial advisor is a professional who provides financial services to clients based on their financial situation. In many countries, financial advisors must complete specific training and be registered with a regulatory ...

, and since November 2009 he has held a job as co-

host A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it. Host may also refer to: Places * Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County * Host Island, in the Wilhelm Archipelago, Antarctica People * ...

NRJ Radio Nouvelle Radio Jeune, (Acronym: NRJ, , ) is a private French radio station created by Jean-Paul Baudecroux and Max Guazzini in June 1981. Widely popularized by its "godmother", singer Dalida, who prevented it from closing in 1984, the radio st ...

's morning program.

Guest appearances in TV shows

Later he has been a guest in television entertainment shows such as ''4-stjerners middag halv åtte'' ("4 Star Dinner at Half Past Seven") on

TV Norge TVNorge (literally "TVNorway"; originally abbreviated TVN, now just abbreviated N in the logos) is a Norway, Norwegian television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA. History TVNorge went on the air on 5 December 1988 and was the fir ...

and ''Torsdag Kveld fra Nydalen'' ("Thursday night from Nydalen"), ''Lurt av Karlsen'' (a Norwegian version of the American hidden camera show ''

Punk'd ''Punk'd'' is an American hidden camera–practical joke reality television series that first aired on MTV in 2003. It was created by Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg, with Kutcher serving as producer and host. It bears a resemblance to both ...

'') and ''Trygdekontoret''.

Interest in his income tax listing

A testimony to his fame among the Norwegian public came in October 2009 as the Norwegian tax listings were made public online, an annual occurrence which causes a lot of people to check up on the income of their neighbours and also well-known people. "Pilgaard" was the second most queried term, after Norway's wealthiest man,

Kjell Inge Røkke Kjell Inge Røkke (born October 25, 1958) is a Norwegian billionaire businessman. He is the chairman of the Norwegian-based company Aker ASA, and holds directorships in Aker BP, Kværner, Ocean Yield, Aker BioMarine and Aker Energy. As of De ...

, but ahead of the prime minister,

Jens Stoltenberg Jens Stoltenberg (; born 16 March 1959) is a Norwegian politician from the Labour Party. Since 2025, he has been the Minister of Finance in the Støre Cabinet. He has previously been the prime minister of Norway and secretary general of NATO. ...

Vocabulary

Pilgaard, who hates books, has nevertheless become famous for his use of the

Norwegian language Norwegian ( ) is a North Germanic language from the Indo-European language family spoken mainly in Norway, where it is an official language. Along with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a dialect continuum of more or less mutually intelli ...

in that he has introduced several little known or original terms to a wider audience, such as "skumpa" and " druse". The latter even inspired standup comic

Odd-Magnus Williamson Odd-Magnus Williamson (born 14 September 1980) is a Norwegian comedian and actor. He is known to Norwegian television audiences for his recurring appearance in commercials for the grocery chain ICA and his performance on the Norwegian version o ...

to write the song "Vi druser på". Pilgaard's performances during the first season of ''Paradise Hotel'' had also been a recurring theme in Williamson's standup routine.

Personal relationship

Pilgaard had initially decided not to associate himself with the series following his involvement in the first season, however, as his girlfriend is the

make-up artist A make-up artist, also called a makeup artist, and often shortened to MUA, is an artist whose medium is the human body, applying makeup and Prosthetic makeup, prosthetics on others for theatre, television, film, fashion, magazines and other simil ...

for the show's host, Triana Iglesias, he changed his mind and was a co-host the second season, The two became a couple during the summer of 2009 and their romance immediately became a favourite subject of the tabloid

media Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inter ...

. It even spawned a minor series, ''Petter elsker Mari'' () on the women-oriented satellite TV channel

TV 2 Bliss TV 2 Bliss was a Norwegian television channel designed for a mostly female audience. In November 2015, the channel was replaced by TV 2 Livsstil. Programs * List of programs broadcast by TV 2 Bliss References Defunct television channels i ...

. The couple knew each other also before ''Paradise Hotel'' and reportedly have many common friends.

Anti-Pilgaard music video

In June 2009 three

snowboard Snowboards are boards where the user places both feet, usually secured, to the same board. The board itself is wider than most skis, with the ability to glide on snow."snowboarding." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 17 Mar ...

ers from Bærum,

Mikkel Bang Mikkel is a Danish boy given name, equivalent of the English name Michael. It may refer to: *Mikkel Ødelien (1893–1984), Norwegian soil researcher *Mikkel Aaland (born 1952), award-winning American photographer * Mikkel Andersen (disambiguation ...

among them, released a music video mocking the celebrity image of Petter Pilgaard. The video, which was published on the Norwegian snowboarding website ''tacky.no,'' features some fairly scornful characterisations of Pilgaard who commented that he had previously been associated with the

monoski A monoski is a single wide ski used for skiing on snow. The same boots, bindings, and poles are used as in alpine skiing. Unlike in snowboarding, both feet face forward, rather than sideways to the direction of travel. Similar equipment incl ...

community in Bærum. The one-time performers and producers of the video stated to the media that they were offered to make the video for free and that there were no ill feelings behind the video. It was simply intended as a humorous stunt.

References

External links

Facebook fan page for Petter Pilgaard
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pilgaard, Petter 1980 births Living people Norwegian television personalities Participants in Norwegian reality television series People from Bærum Place of birth missing (living people)