THE hot contender to win Eurovision has a steamy past, having posed topless for Playboy and appeared on Baywatch.
Glamorous violinist Linda Lampenius is the bookies’ favourite to win next week’s contest with singer Peter Parkkonen, representing Finland with their song Liekinheitin.
But she is no stranger to fame, as she has an illustrious career as one of the nation’s sexiest musicians.
Linda, now 56, posed on the cover of US magazine Playboy in 1998 and appeared topless while holding her instrument in photos inside the mag.
She was compared to Pamela Anderson because of her stunning figure and blonde hair, which led to an appearance on Baywatch.
Linda, who has also used the name Linda Brava, appeared in an episode playing a violinist named Ariana, but she later claimed to have refused to shoot certain scenes with David Hasselhoff, who played lifeguard Mitch Buchannon.
She said the script included the pair giving each other massages before they “find themselves in a steam room sharing a hot kiss.”
But Linda recalled: “I said that I refused to do the scene and that Hasselhoff was also ‘too old’ for me.”
She also appeared on an episode of the British late-night show Eurotrash in the Nineties, where she was referred to as a “supermodel” and “the hottest thing to come out of Finland since the sauna.”
Reflecting on the TV show appearance and her previous work in 2018, Linda said it was a small part of her life which she still laughs about.
She wrote on Instagram: “These fashion shows and photo shoots were something I did for less than 20 days of my life!! (I’m just laughing about the fact that they called me ‘supermodel’).
“If you get stuck in a box and never dare to do anything funny and different, life will become boring. Eurotrash was a humorous TV show, like a comedy show.
“I come from a theatre family and all quirky stuff is normal. It doesn’t make me less of a classical violinist/artist.”
Linda and Pete will compete in the first Eurovision semi-final at 8pm on Tuesday on BBC One, with hopes of progressing to the 70th annual grand final on Saturday May 16.
The latest odds from William Hill give Finland odds of 5/4 to win the entire contest, just in front of Denmark and Greece which are both at 11/2.
If Linda does win, she will be the oldest person to ever do so.
Estonia’s Dave Benton currently holds the record after winning aged 50 for Estonia in 2001.
Meanwhile, the UK act Look Mum No Computer is 17th in the betting with odds of 80/1 to win with his song Eins, Zwei, Drei.