OSLO (see and listen): Maybe we’re a bit of a “chicken father.” But he is more of a hen father, laughing as Haugen’s neighbor and nodding to her husband, Knut Ivar Bellrod.
– I feel sorry for the participants
Se og Hør visits the couple and their three (and a half, she confirms) daughter Olivia at their country house, which is located in the Sogn garden colony of Oslo.
Pelerud and Haugen first became known to the Norwegian people when they participated in – and won – the TV 2 show “Sommerhytta” in 2019. It was Pelerud who initiated the signing up for the program at that time.
– and I answered “yes” without thinking about it. I guess I thought maybe we wouldn’t come after all, says Haugen.
– No, no, we scored the winning goal, Bellrod intervenes.
Selling the house: – Feels just right
Since then, among other things, they’ve worked closely with Magnor’s glass works and published “To pappaer”—and sold the winning cabin, inherited the dream cabin, and had a daughter.
Give priority to the daughter
The couple serves pancakes with jam in the corner of the sofa, and while we eat, Bellrod tells us how life has changed after the TV engagement.
After selling the winning cabin, they were both able to reduce their employment percentage in order to be able to do this neatly, and to be able to spend more time with their daughter.
Dream Home: During the summer months, the family spends all of their free time at the cabin. Photo: Hanna Taugbøl/Se og Hør
Show more
– Even as an adult, I think you should seize the opportunities you have to do new things – we grow into that! Bellrod says.
On our part, we understood that this was something we could build on after ‘Sommerhytta’ when we saw that we were starting to get some followers. It was an opportunity to get a little creative.
While the father is speaking, Olivia carefully approaches the site below with a curling iron.
– Can I curl your hair, you ask, and of course you can’t say no to that.
As I get a new haircut, Haugen picks up the conversation right where I left off.
– With Olivia and with these projects, in addition to our regular jobs, you can choose other things, but I still don’t have it any other way. And everyone gets to pick something up when they have kids anyway, so I didn’t really feel like I was missing out—it was what I was getting.
New couple
When Pelerud and Haugen chose to join “Sommerhytta”, they weren’t a couple for long. As they explain themselves – they “were done being so in love again, but there were many things they didn’t know about each other.”
WINNING CABIN SOLD – Inherited Dream Cabin
“In that sense, it was an interesting project to be involved in,” Haugen laughs.
– In addition, I had no experience in television, while Knut was on “71 degrees north.” But soon I got used to it, he smiles more.
Even though the couple hadn’t been a couple for all those many years when they signed up, they actually chose each other at the altar.
They met in 2015, and got engaged in New York that same year. They got married on New Year’s Eve 2016 – and since Billrod works at the castle, they had the chance to say yes to each other at Castle Chapel.
– She was very beautiful, Haugen recalls the wedding.
-And the castle chapel is not that big, so it was completely filled with our family and friends, and as it was so soon after Christmas, they kept their Christmas decorations. It was an amazing day.
Also read: We’ve never been so close
“Infuriatingly humble web fan. Writer. Alcohol geek. Passionate explorer. Evil problem solver. Incurable zombie expert.”
