Astrid Holleeder’s television career has been nipped in the bud. Her debut on RTL 4 was a silent failure and now the question is what remains. How will she fill her free time?
It was announced as if RTL 4 had made a big catch. Astrid Holleeder, the woman who betrayed her brother and wrote a bestseller about it, would join RTL Tonight as an authoritative expert. A name with weight, a story with meaning: on paper it seemed like a golden combination, according to former channel boss Peter van der Vorst.
Away silently
Unfortunately, it soon became apparent that Astrid could only fill the airtime when it came to her own family. She had little to add about the current events of the day, so she did not appear to be a versatile table guest. She disappeared silently from the program, without a farewell broadcast, without an official statement.
RTL said nothing, Astrid said nothing, and that actually said enough. It is a pattern that occurs more often in television land. Someone with a special story is brought in as a great talent, only to discover that a good story is something different than presentation talent or commentator qualities. She is not a journalist, not an analyst; she is a witness.
What’s next?
The question is what comes next for Astrid. A second television opportunity does not seem to be in the pipeline for the time being. There will be a new book in November, she says in the Nouveau. “My fifth. It is a travelogue about everything that has happened since I came out.”
More of the same: Astrid Holleeder about Astrid Holleeder. What else will she do? “I am also active as a speaker and I also present a podcast about breaking silence. But my real mission now is: setting up my own online platform.”
Own platform
What kind of platform? “A platform with which I want to inspire women to take back control of their lives. That is my slogan: ‘Take control’. Because that is what happened: I started taking control.”
Astrid is inspired by a former colleague from RTL Tonight. “I think what Saskia Belleman is doing with femicide is fantastic. I also want to do something like that, with my online platform. Because I know what it is to be a victim.”
Own income
In this way, Astrid hopes that some money will be raised again. “Financial independence means that you don’t have to have a man who beats you. That’s why I like to work so much: because I don’t want to be dependent. That’s why I’ve always survived. Work, work, work, take initiative, don’t wait.”
“I am not someone who can be employed, so I have always taken the lead, always started doing something. Even when I could no longer go outside. Then I started writing books. That has been my salvation, because without those books I would have had no income. I am now back in the legal profession.”