Brigitte Nielsen

Beyond acting, Nielsen ventured into music. In 1987, after her divorce from Stallone, she released her debut album, Every Body Tells a Story, and recorded a duet with Austrian star Falco, "Body Next to Body," which charted in Germany and Austria. A follow-up album in 1992 did not succeed, but in 1999 she returned under the pseudonym Gitta with the dance track "No More Turning Back," which hit number one in Spain. Subsequent tracks "Tic Toc" and "You're No Lady," the latter a collaboration with RuPaul, followed.

Nielsen's work has also spanned television and reality shows across Europe and the UK. She hosted Italian broadcasts like the 1992 Sanremo Music Festival and a 1990s English-language talk show broadcast across Europe, which helped shed the perception that she was merely a beauty. She appeared in the Italian soap opera Un posto al sole, and in 2004 she gained notoriety on the third season of VH1's The Surreal Life, where her flirtation with Flavor Flav led to the spin-off Strange Love. She also competed in Celebrity Big Brother in 2005, alongside her former mother-in-law Jackie Stallone.

In 2018, Nielsen returned to the big screen in Creed II, reprising her role as Ludmilla Drago from the 1985 classic Rocky IV. She has been married several times, with four sons and an engagement to football player Mark Gastineau. In 2007, she sought treatment for an undisclosed condition, later reported as alcoholism, and she has since maintained sobriety. Today, at 63, she remains a recognisable figure, with a substantial social media following of 231k on Instagram.