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 May 6, 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.
Kelly scored 77 in a national level IQ test according to BNN[1]
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[2].
It was revealed, In May 2008, Kelly Van Der Veer would be entering the Australian Big Brother as a special guest. Her exact date to enter the Australian Big Brother house in 2008 has yet to be confirmed.
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.
She was a finalist at the 2002 edition of the Dutch Big Brother and one of the favorites 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. [3]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]
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.
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