John de Mol

While my mother clears the table after lunch, I sit and chat with my father for a while. 'Say listen Nathalie,' he suddenly says. 'You are always so creative, can't you think of a new TV programme? I heard the other day that John de Mol is looking for new ideas.'

Although I am always up for a new challenge, I wouldn't know in what direction to look for it. There is already so much on TV...

'I'll think about it,' I promise him.

When I walk my doggie in the park an hour later, it doesn't let me go. I walk and walk and walk and with every step I take I get new ideas. The more I relax myself, the more inspiration I get.

Another hour later, sitting at my laptop at home again, I work out an entire show in my Word file, to my own amazement.

After I call my father to share the idea with him and he is excited about the end result, I open Outlook, type in Talpa's email address and click 'sent'.

I don't have to wait long for an answer. Within three days I receive a message back; I get to come and pitch my idea at John de Mol's office!

When I have gathered the necessary props and am waiting in the corridor in the Talpa building after careful preparation, nerves are coursing down my throat.

Just when I am under the impression that the lady walking towards me in the corridor is coming to collect me to go inside, she informs me that John and his team of senior format developers are going to take a break and if I might like a drink.

My mouth is gort dry. Please!

When I am finally allowed inside some 20 minutes later, my heart skips three beats. After all, it's not just John sitting there. There is a whole crowd around him and, as if that were not enough, a camera is immediately pointed at me.

'For internal use only,' explains an artistic-looking lady. ' To be able to look back later during the meeting to see what you all said.'

I understand and, at her request for the rotating camera, let her know I agree.

As I take the things I need for my presentation out of my bag, John shoots into laughter.

'Are you going to do magic?" he asks jollily.

I have to laugh too, that is indeed what it looks like yes.

The ice is broken and I do my rehearsed pitch flawlessly in three minutes.

After answering the questions they had in response to my explanation, I thank John and the format developers present for this opportunity and return home relieved - happy that everything went according to plan.

A week later, I receive another Talpa mail in my mailbox. My idea is through to the next round!

Long story short: after this pitch, I became so inspired that I sent in new ideas almost every week for the three years that followed. I invariably received useful and actionable feedback on these and was even invited again to pitch my ideas to John.

The last time I left him he said:

'You never send nonsense. There's always something nice in between'.

My nose still curls with pride...

I have now stopped coming up with TV ideas for four years. Since the unexpected death of my dear father in 2016, I simply no longer enjoyed it.

Because of him, I once started this and I cherish the moments when we sat together at the table brainstorming. I will also never forget his genuine enthusiasm when I called him regularly to keep him updated on the latest developments.

We were even once invited by Holland Casino to pitch an idea for a new gambling game that my father had once dreamt about and which we then perfected together. Coming up with and developing ideas was really something of ours together.

I was determined never to do anything in this direction again. Until a few weeks ago, I was approached by another TV producer asking if I might be of service to them with a view to developing a new format they were stuck with.

I said yes...

And my father would have loved it.

Personal blog >HOME

Pictured: Me with Daddy, me in the car on my way to Talpa and my handsome dog Prince Binky Wawa with whom I used to take long walks for inspiration. Bink, too, is sadly no more.....