Wie is De Mol?

Wie is de mol

“Patrick! That was Patrick!” I shouted enthusiastically to my group of friends as I franticly pointed towards the man who had just walked into the very same cafe which we were sitting outside of.

I expected them to all share my excitement but instead I was met with blank looks of confusion. Normally I would not get so excited by a guy called Patrick walking into a cafe but I recognised him from the Dutch telly.

“You know! The mole from the last season of Wie is De Mol?” I continued expecting that this would jog their memories. It didn’t.

“What are you talking about?” One of them asked.

I guess I should have expected it. I was sitting with a group of mixed expats after all and it was only thanks to a Dutch wife and a former flatmate that I even knew about the shows existence. I forgave them their ignorance. However, there was one Dutchman in our group. He had no excuse.

Wanting to explain my excitement I happily launched into an overly enthusiastic explanation of how Wie is de mol…

“It’s this game show were a group of celebrities work together…”

… right at the moment that Patrick (Mole 2011) walked back out of the bar…

“…to complete challenges for money…”

… and moved towards a table across from us…

“…and someone in the group…”

…while being able to hear everything I was over enthusiastically shouting…

“…is secretly… trying to… subvert their attempts.”

… and I trailed off quietly and shyly having realized this.

I don’t know why I thought using fancy words like ‘subvert’ instead of ‘sabotage’ or ‘mole’ might suddenly conceal the fact that I was talking rather loudly about him but it clearly did not pay off because as he took his seat and I fumbled my way through the end of the sentence he smirked to himself.

This was not helped any farther by one of my friends, having noticed my rather obvious embarrassment and enjoying it, suddenly shouting very loudly, “Tell us more about this show Stuart.”

I went very quiet and spent the rest of the evening trying not to stare at Patrick like a stalker collecting celebrity kidneys while he had dinner.

Other ‘Wie is de Mol’ encounters

This brings the grand total of ‘Wie Is De Mol’ celebrities contestants I have seen in real life up to four (Patrick Stoof, Pepijn Gunneweg, Jon van Eerd and Froukje Jansen). I keep on seeing them everywhere I go. However, this is possibly because they are the only Dutch celebrities I really know.

Stuart

Stuart is an accident prone Englishman who has been living in the Netherlands since 2001. Even his move to the country was an unintentional accident, the result of replying to a cryptic job advertisement he found one day in a local British magazine. Since then he has learned to love the Dutch (so much so that he married one of them) and now calls the country home. He started the blog Invading Holland in 2006 as a place to share his strange stories of language misunderstandings, cultural confusions and his own accident prone nature.

11 Responses

  1. The only celebrities you know? Surely you’ve heard of … erm … van Basten, he’s Dutch isn’t he? Wouldn’t he be there having a coffee some time?

    One other thing – was your look one of someone who collects celebrity kidneys while they eat? Or was it a look of someone who collects celebrity kidneys .. and he just happened to be eating? Judging by your pic at the beginning of this post, I’m assuming the former …

  2. French Bean says:

    Hey, at least you didn’t spot Snookie from the Jersey Shore. *That* would have just been awkward. :-P

    While back in my high school years, I once spotted Colombian singer Carlos Vives in a store. You may not know him, but he is EXTREMELY well-known in Colombia and most of South America. Now, while teaching in France, my students would ask me if I had ever seen any famous people in Miami.

    I would tell them who I had seen. I was awarded with blank looks. :-P

  3. Alison says:

    I’ve yet to see an episode of the Mole in any country, so I’m afraid I wouldn’t recognize anyone. I did see an early US Big Brother contestant once shortly after moving to New York. Fortunately, I went on to see much more impressive celebrities in NY. I’ve seen one Dutch celebrity, Thomas Acda, but I only found out who he was when someone told me. I still wouldn’t recognize him.

  4. Jules says:

    I am terrible with names and faces…Brad Pitt could live upstairs, for all I know. But really, the only Dutch TV I can stand watching is the news. I tried watching “Verborgen Verbreken” but then Karel threatened to toss the TV :-)

  5. Windmiltales says:

    Never really got into the Mole. Dutch Tv? Now that could be a new blog post! What about De beste Zangers van Nederland? Ik hou van Holland?

  6. Anneke says:

    De Mol! <3 Sorry. [/fanmode] Anyway, I have never seen one Dutch celebrety ever. :)

  7. Anneke says:

    Sh*t. Celebrity.

  8. Invader Stu says:

    Unexpected Traveller – Yes. The former. Would you like to see my collection?

    French Bean – That just proves how un-cultured the French are :p

    Alison – I get the same all the time when my wife starts pointing out other Dutch celebrates. No clue who they are.

    Jules – I wondered why you were ignoring Brad.

    Windmilltales – I’ve seen Ik hou van Holland a few times. I never have a clue what is going on.

    Anneke – I know someone who won’t be getting a Christmas card from a certain Dutch celebrity this year :p

  9. VallyP says:

    At least you see them! I’ve never, even seen anyone famous, but then maybe that’s because I’m blind as a bat ;)

  10. Nienke says:

    When I was learning French in France, I once sat next to a famous French singer in a restaurant. I was so exited to have spotted ‘my first French celeb’ I behaved in a annoyingly loud and happy manner and I mean loud for a Dutch person. Off course, he didn’t grasp the cultural difference and looked at me as if I had just escaped from the nuns on my day of from the asylum. I still feel embarrased when I think of it.

  11. Wie is de Mol says:

    Do you know who the next candidatie are in seson 2013?

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