Petra Maria Mede (born 7 March 1970) is a Swedish comedian, dancer, actress and television presenter. Mede is known for her several roles in comic shows and as a television presenter, and is best known outside of Sweden for hosting the Eurovision Song Contest in, and , as well as co-hosting Eurovision Song Contest's Greatest Hits in 2015.

Early life

Petra Maria Mede was born in Stockholm to Ulla Elisabet (born 1940) and entrepreneur Klas Mede (born 1939), but was raised in Partille, near Gothenburg. She has a younger sister named Anne Mede Ageling. She graduated in Philosophy as well as in the French language.

Career

Mede started off as a dancer at Balettakademien, but her career was cut short by a back injury at the age of 20. She worked as a tourist guide in Stockholm before moving to comedy aged around 35, taking part in a contest for emerging comedians in 2005. Mede began being seen on television, appearing on ''Extra! Extra! (TV show), Dubbat, Musikmaskinen, Parlamentet and Morgonsoffan''. She received an award for best emerging actress in 2007. In 2008, she and Anna Maria Granath wrote the parody book Mer självkänsla än du kan hantera (More Self-Esteem than You Can Handle). She participated in the TV shows Stockholm Live and Babben & Co. She appeared in Melodifestivalen 2008 to announce the points from Sundsvall. In 2009, she hosted Melodifestivalen 2009, where the Swedish entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 was chosen and was voted Sweden's best female comedian the same year. In 2010, she hosted her own program, titled Petra Mede Show, on TV3. Mede has regularly worked for SVT since 2011, hosting Julvärd, the broadcaster's Christmas Eve special, in 2013, and the Guldbagge Awards in 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. In May 2013, Mede hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö, additionally performing an interval act during the final; her hosting was widely acclaimed by critics and journalists around Europe. She was the first solo Eurovision presenter in nearly 20 years, after Mary Kennedy in and the first solo presenter for a contest with semi-finals, only being accompanied by Eric Saade as green room host in the final. Mede made her film debut in 2014 in Medicinen. In 2015, Mede, along with Graham Norton, hosted the Eurovision's Greatest Hits EBU/BBC 60th anniversary concert show recorded on 31 March at the Eventim Apollo, in Hammersmith, London and was later broadcast in 27 countries. Mede dubbed Destiny in the Swedish version of the 2016 film Finding Dory. She co-hosted the first heat of Melodifestivalen 2016 with Gina Dirawi at the Scandinavium in Gothenburg. Mede then hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 in Stockholm alongside previous year's winner Måns Zelmerlöw, joining Katie Boyle and Jacqueline Joubert as the only people to have hosted the contest more than once. Mede played the role of Katja in the 2017 Netflix series Bonus Family and made an appearance in the 2019 documentary film Hasse & Tage – En kärlekshistoria. Between 2018 and 2020, Mede hosted reality TV show Stjärnornas stjärna. In 2021 and 2022, she co-hosted Let's Dance alongside David Lindgren. She has since been the presenter of Hjulet on TV4. Mede hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Malmö, with Malin Akerman.

Personal life

Mede is a polyglot, speaking Swedish, English, Spanish, Italian and French. Together with her former partner Mattias Günther, she has a daughter born in 2012. However, in 2015, it was confirmed that she and Günther had split. In 2022, she gave birth to another daughter. Mede resides in Bromma, Stockholm.

Filmography

Television

Film