The Transformation Of Tiger Woods' Ex Elin Nordegren Is Head-Turning

Back in 2009 and 2010, world-renowned golfer Tiger Woods' cheating scandal was a hot topic around the globe. Woods, who was featured in the sports pages of newspapers on a regular basis at the time, made his way to the covers and front pages of tabloids after his truth was exposed. However, the scandal also thrust his now-former wife, Elin Nordegren, into the limelight. Having been cheated on, Nordegren ended her six-year-long marriage to Woods in 2010, and, as expected, their divorce became the talk of the town as well.

Despite going through a chaotic divorce, Nordegren managed to successfully turn her life around and was quick to do so. With all that being said, her transformation from childhood to now is truly intriguing and totally worth exploring. This is a look inside her life, which is nothing short of a roller-coaster ride.

Elin Nordegren and her twin sister, Josefin, were born in 1980. Raised in Vaxholm, a part of Sweden's Stockholm Archipelago, the sisters shared their childhood with their older brother, Axel, and thanks to a relatively small age gap, the three were inseparable as kids. As Nordegren told People in 2010, "My brother is 13 months older than my sister and me, so we were like triplets growing up." However, the siblings weren't exactly brought up in an equal manner. Nordegren's parents wanted their children to know the value of individuality, especially their daughters since they're identical twins.

The couple "stressed the importance of independence a lot more with" the twins than their brother so that they could grow up into separate, independent entities. "[Our parents] rarely dressed [my sister and me] in the same clothes, and if they did, I always wore red and my sister always wore blue," Nordegren recalled. "They cut our hair differently and put my sister and me in different classes." However, she has no complaints and is, in fact, grateful for her upbringing. As she put it, "Today I appreciate that [our parents] did that. My sister has been my best friend since the day we were born ... But we learned early on that we were two different individuals."

Elin Nordegren witnessed her parents' divorce at the tender age of 7. However, despite having difficulties dealing with the situation as a child, she has grown to hold no hard feelings against them. Speaking to People in 2010, Nordegren noted, "I have huge respect for both of my parents. They gave me a base of trust, loyalty and love that I will always have ... I lived with each parent an equal amount of time after [they split up] ... Despite the split, I feel like the base was still there."

The fond memories Nordegren has of her childhood are powerful enough to overshadow the trauma she may have faced due to her parents calling it quits. During the said interview with People, she recalled the happier days she spent with her parents before they went their separate ways in 1987. Remembering how her family traveled on a regular basis before the divorce took place, she said, "[Our parents] stuffed us into a little Fiat Panda and drove all around Europe as often as possible ... I have great memories of those trips."

Back when Elin Nordegren frequently made headlines due to her relationship and subsequent marriage to Tiger Woods, she was often referred to as a "former swimsuit model and nanny" by news outlets. That's because Nordegren had indeed worked as a model during her teenage years and as a nanny prior to dating Woods. However, in 2010, when asked how she felt about the description, she humbly told People, "I was never very successful at [modeling], and I didn't intend to pursue it. It is flattering to be called a model, but I hardly think a few shoots in my teenage years make me a model."

In her early 20s, Nordegren nannied for Swedish golfer Jesper Parnevik and his wife, Mia, for around a year. "It is common in Europe to take a year or two off after gymnasiet [high school] to travel or go overseas to learn another language before you continue your studies," Nordegren told People. "My initial plan was to go to Barcelona for a year to continue my Spanish studies, but I met Mia and came with them to the States to help them with their three children." Although she planned on moving back to Sweden for higher studies post-nannying, she ended up crossing paths with Tiger Woods in 2001 thanks to Jesper (while she was still nannying for their kids), and circumstances inevitably altered.

Elin Nordegren and Tiger Woods got married in 2004 and welcomed their daughter, Sam Alexis, and son Charlie Axel in June 2007 and February 2009, respectively. The couple was seemingly going strong up until November 2009, when the National Enquirer reported that Woods had been cheating on Nordegren with NYC nightclub hostess Rachel Uchitel. Per reports, the day before the news was published, Woods made Nordegren speak to Uchitel to reassure her that there was nothing going on between the two. Within a span of two days, things took a turn for the worse when Nordegren found out her husband was indeed cheating and got involved in a physical fight with him. The fight led to Woods running out of the house and dashing into his car, which ended up crashing into a neighborhood tree, leaving him injured.

During the next few weeks, over a dozen women came forward and claimed Woods had cheated on Nordegren with them. In December 2009, Woods admitted himself to a sex addiction treatment center. As one would expect, Nordegren didn't take much time to file for divorce, which was finalized in August 2010. Woods reportedly paid Nordegren about $100 million in alimony. He later admitted that the number of women he had cheated on Nordegren with was about 120. That said, despite Nordegren and Woods having a messy divorce, Woods and Nordegren continued to co-parent Sam and Charlie.

Shortly after marrying Tiger Woods, Elin Nordegren decided she would pursue a bachelor's degree in psychology. In 2005, she enrolled at Rollins College to fulfill her dream. However, Nordegren took nine long years to finish her courses, as she was forced to skip multiple semesters due to the birth of her first two children and her scandalous divorce.

In 2014, she graduated with a 3.96 GPA and was given the Hamilton Holt Outstanding Senior Award, the biggest achievement award annually offered by Rollins College. In her commencement address, she noted, "My Psychology and Law class helped me through some of the most challenging times in my life that involved legal matters. The information not only helped me understand the complexity of the legal system, but it also offered me a place of peace in the wild storm of my personal life."

In November 2018, two months after she became a licensed mental health counselor intern, Nordegren established her own business, EN Therapy, LLC, and started offering professional therapy sessions. However, as it appears at the time of writing, Nordegren doesn't practice therapy anymore. In fact, she reportedly lost her business license in 2021 after she failed to submit her yearly report to the authorities.

Life was never the same for Elin Nordegren after her divorce from Tiger Woods, but, as it seems, she never lost faith in love. As a matter of fact, it didn't take her much time to move on from Woods, either. In 2011, she briefly dated financier Jamie Dingman. However, after the relationship came to an end, she chose to take a break from dating and remained single for about two years. From 2013 to 2017, she dated now-late billionaire Chris Cline.

At the time of writing, Nordegren is in a relationship with former footballer Jordan Cameron. The duo started dating in 2017 and have been inseparable ever since. They now have three children of their own together: Zeta, Freya, and Arthur. With Tristan (the son Cameron had with one of his exes), Sam, and Charlie (the children Nordegren shares with Woods) in the equation, Nordegren and Cameron have created a big, happy blended family.