Saskia Belleman is currently on television with a shorter haircut, but that was not entirely voluntary. Some make-up artist ruined her long hair. “Burn.”
TV performances normally start with make-up, where everything has to be tightened and polished before the camera is turned on. However, as a guest you are completely at the mercy of the person with the hairdryer and tongs, and that doesn’t always turn out very well. Before you know it, you are not only dealing with the makeup, but also with the damage.
Burnt
Saskia Belleman has lost her long locks, she says A.D. “That was a blessing in disguise. A few years ago my hair was burned by a curling iron during the make-up at a talk show.”
She continues: “I only realized it when I was at the hairdresser later. He was shocked: what happened here? There was only one solution: get rid of it. Half a meter or so. But I’m happy with it, I left it that way.”
Ironing board
Saskia has now been on television for over ten years. “In 2013 there was that huge Robert M sex case. That’s when I was asked for the first time for a talk show, Pauw en Witteman. I didn’t do that. I didn’t dare. Who am I to say on TV what’s happening here?”
She continues: “But then I saw others sitting there who didn’t know a thing about it. So I started trying it anyway, with Knevel and Van den Brink. You’ll laugh your head off when you look back at that. I sat there like an ironing board on that chair.”
Skill
Saskia is now one of the most appreciated talk show guests in the country. “You get a knack for it, right? Sitting next to a man, for example, is always difficult, because they have a louder voice. So I started paying attention to my breathing.”
She continues: “Take Gerard Spong, the lawyer. If he sees that you want to intervene, he will talk louder. But he needs to take a breath. Well, I wait for that and then I intervene.”
Satisfyer
Whatever she learned? “Never tell another guest before the broadcast what you have experienced. I had that once with Goedele Liekens. He was sitting next to me in the make-up room and found everything I said immensely interesting. When we sat at the table a little later during the broadcast, she just started telling my story.”
She concludes: “Seriously. I was there for a sexual offense case and she was for a Satisfyer or something like that. But she somehow managed to talk that into each other, she was so experienced. I thought: Excuse me?? Wise lesson. So I will never do that again.”