- Has a younger brother, Jan-Alexander and a younger sister, Priszilla.
- Daughter of voice actor Thomas Petruo.
- Granddaughter of voice actor Heinz Petruo.
- Began her solo career as Vany with the single 'Dramaqueen' (2004).
- Her mother Mercedes is half Peruvian-half Spanish and her father Thomas is German.
- Member of the extremely popular girl group No Angels from 2000 to 2003. However, she declined to join the other four when they announced their reunion in January 2007.
- Is currently working on a studio album. (February 2007)
- Plays the piano.
- In 2007, she trained as a jazz singer.
- Owns a turtle and a snake.
- Completed a master's degree in cognitive neuroscience and has been working as a research fellow in Universitätsklinikum Carl Gustav Carus Dresden's child and adolescent psychiatry department ever since.
- Each No Angels member was initially being "assigned" one specific element and persona, similar to the Spice Girls' individual images. Vanessa was at first unhappy that she was supposed to represent Earth which she regarded as the most boring but later changed her mind after learning it was chosen based on her Latin roots and sensuality.
- The No Angels' "elements" personas can be observed in the European video for "Daylight in Your Eyes", which was the group's first ever music video. The group had major input regarding hairstyles and outfits in the video as well as ideas for future performances. This caused some minor disagreements, as they were also tasked with suggesting fashion choices for each other.
- Completed her studies and now (2018) carries the title of Professor.
- Before becoming a No Angels member, she held various jobs such as journalism student, voice actress and sales assistant.
- At 17, she attended a casting for potential new hosts for German music television channel Viva but was unsuccessful.
- She is from a family of voice actors, her father being Thomas Petruo and her grandfather Heinz Petruo. Vanessa herself also worked as a voice actress ever since she was 7, using the money she earned for singing lessons.
- Prior to becoming a No Angels member, she did internships at MTV and N24.
- Out of all her former fellow No Angels members, she was particularly close to Nadja Benaissa.
- Her family's surname was originally "Petrus". "Petruo" is the result of a clerical error.
- Arguably the most popular No Angels member and de facto spokesperson during the group's heyday, her not participating in their comeback has been named as one of the reasons the comeback was not as successful as expected.
- On 3 September 2000, the day she ended up auditioning for Popstars (2000), she was driving through Berlin, intending to buy new jeans for her sister, when she heard about the casting on the radio. Realizing she was in the area it was being held, she decided she would end up attending the casting if only she found a parking lot.
- Mama Lilla, after whom her first solo album is named, is her Peruvian grandmother who lives in Sweden and travels the world a lot.
- Her mother is a restaurateur and the owner of a disco, a restaurant and a cafe.
- In 1997, she appeared on Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten (1992) for six episodes, playing the guest part of Karen Gölz, but has admitted that she would rather forget she was in the series.
- As a child, she had a stutter and a lisp but her father helped her get rid of either with speech practice and exercises.
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