Hanssen grew up with three older brothers in Antwerp. She started as a background singer in the
Samson en Gert Christmas shows and played on her 16th in
Samson en Gert Sofie, the niece of the mayor. Hanssen was second in the election for 'Look of the year' in 1996. After secondary school she studied at the Jazzstudio in Antwerp for two years and received her candidacy as a jazz singer at the conservatory.
Career In April 2001 Hanssen started as a
VJ on
TMF Flanders, where she presented with Elke Vanelderen in
Boobietrap. She also presented at major festivals such as
Marktrock, Suikerrock, TW Classic and I Love Techno. She interviewed
Lenny Kravitz and
Justin Timberlake, among others. In the summer of 2002 she was asked to replace
Yasmine at
Aan tafel on
TV1. She was also regularly seen in
Het Swingpaleis. Her debut single "Down as she goes" with the new group Hookers Green became the new favourite song of
Greenpeace in Belgium. The song is about the decline of the world in every possible way. In October 2003 she left TMF to concentrate on her music. She worked on a theatre jazz project and on a Dutch-language album with Patrick Hamilton. She was heard as a flying reporter at
Radio Donna staat op and can be seen on the sports channel
Sporza. For
Garfield: The Movie she dubbed the voice of the American cartoon cat. She then worked for
VTM, where she presented
De Farm and
71° Noord. From 2006 to 2013 she presented
Expeditie Robinson annually. Since March 2007 she can also be seen in
De Foute Quiz and
GodzijDank. In 2008 and 2009, Evi presented the Flemish version of
Project Runway,
De Designers. In 2010 she was on show in
De dagshow, a showbiz programme on VTM. In 2013 she presented with Kürt Rogiers in
De Grote Sprong, in 2014
Beat da Bompaz and
Mijn Pop-uprestaurant. From 2014 she can be seen on Dutch television in "3 op Reis". In September 2014 she started as a table lady at
De Wereld Draait Door. In 2016, together with
Freek Vonk, she presented
De Super Freek Show. In 2019, she was a candidate on the Dutch television show
Wie is de Mol? She was the first candidate to leave the game in episode 2.
Private life Hanssen married in September 2005 to Fred di Bono, front man of the Belgian formation Silverene. They founded the production house Bonhanssa together. Later they had two children. The couple split up at the end of 2011. ==Television==