“I actually thought someone else was going to win.” But the award for Best Newcomer still went to Dex Lageman from Buinen at the ceremony last night The Best Social Awards. The 10-year-old TikTokker and Instagrammer can hardly believe it himself. “It was really close.”
And star appeal? He doesn’t have that. “No, I don’t feel like a star at all. And luckily I don’t have to sign autographs yet, because I don’t have any yet,” he jokes.
Dex is popular on social media with his taste tests. In his videos he tastes special snacks, from sour pickle candy to eggball chips, and immediately gives them a grade. That simple concept is catching on. On Instagram, his account grew to more than 100,000 followers in a short time. But Dex has now lost that account.
The award show was held in a theater in Amsterdam-Noord. “It was a lot of fun. Half of the Dutch people are walking around there, it’s all nicely decorated and there are stalls everywhere,” says father Richard Lageman.
At the ceremony, the public could see live how the votes came in. It became a battle between eight newcomers. “It stops for a while at the beginning, because then the jury report comes first. Then the votes of the public come in. Then Jarl van den Berg and I kept going up and the rest actually stopped.”
In the end, Dex just won, he received 28.99 percent of the votes, compared to 28.66 percent for Jarl van den Berg. The jury report called Dex authentic and entertaining. “And they said I have a bright future ahead of me.” Dex went home with a lot of honors and a glass award statue. “It will be in our living room. But in my first videos it will probably still be visible in the background.”
The young star had the evening of his life, because in addition to all the interviews on the red carpet, Dex also spoke to a number of Dutch celebrities. “I have seen Koen van Heest, Robbie van de Graaf, Jordy Jouw and Chachi Versaci.”
Koen and Robbie are known from the YouTube group The Benchsitterswhich Dex is a big fan of. “Koen also cheered very loudly when I won the prize. We have been trying to record a video with them for a while and that now seems to be almost happening,” says Dex enthusiastically.
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