Catherine Keyl is already 79 years old, three years older than her colleague Viola Holt, who died this month. Is the TV celebrity afraid of her own death? “I think about it often.”
An incredible number of celebrities have died this year and Viola Holt also passed away this month. The average woman in our country lives to be 83 years old, but Viola died at the age of 76. Her former 5 O’Clock Show colleague Catherine Keyl will be turning 80 next year, but is still very vital. There are only two men who keep her off the screen.
No fear
Both Jan Slagter of senior broadcaster MAX and Johan Derksen do not want anything from her. Jan is still angry about the diarrhea attacks she had during her time at MAX, and Wilfred Genee would like to have her at the table at Today Inside, but Johan thinks she is too old and too stale. A shame, because Catherine is quite popular with the public.
Moreover, time is running out. Is Catherine afraid of her passing? “No,” she says in the Private. “Death does not scare me. That has never been the case. I was a reporter for Here and Now, the current affairs section of the NCRV, for twelve years. I have regularly had to make reports in war zones and that was never without danger.”
It’s your turn?
Catherine has seen horrible things, she says. “But I have never been afraid. I have always accepted all risks. And now? I don’t worry about death, although I often catch myself thinking about the moment when that time comes and wondering what that will be like.”
She continues: “At the most unexpected moments I get the thought that it might be my turn tomorrow. In my younger years I never thought about that. It is also inexplicable why my two younger sisters left while I am still there. That is something that concerns me every now and then.”
Nice way
Hopefully the last few years will be good years, says Catherine. “I hope I can end my life on a beautiful note. The only thing I worry about is my health. I am still fit and vital for my age. Everything is still fine in my head. I am still full of life. I hope it will remain that way until the last moment.”
“It seems terrible to me to have to go through a long period of suffering and to deteriorate. I have had an insanely beautiful life. I am not complaining. I have had the opportunity to make a fantastic career.”