Wendy van Dijk immediately stops all her television work because her 13-year-old daughter Lizzy has been diagnosed with a serious blood disease. “It’s incredibly scary.”
The recordings of the SBS 6 hit Wie van de Drie have been abruptly stopped and that has everything to do with the presenter of the program, Wendy van Dijk. “It turns out to be for a very sad reason. Just before Christmas, they were told by doctors that her daughter with Erland, Lizzy, is ill,” says Bart Ettekoven in Show news.
Wendy in isolation
Bart, one of the experts from the show section, spoke with Wendy. What’s going on with Lizzy? “The girl is 13 years old and she has been diagnosed with a rare blood disorder and that is incredibly frightening. The lives of Wendy, Erland and actually the entire family have come to a standstill.”
Wendy’s family is in isolation. “That has to be the case, because Lizzy is vulnerable at the moment. Wendy actually explained it as: we are back in the corona time, so to speak, ‘and that is the reason I cannot work at the moment, because then I just come into contact with too many people and By doing so I am endangering my daughter.”
Full halls
Wendy doesn’t want to run any risk of infecting her daughter with anything. “That is of course the very, very, very last thing she wants, besides the fact that Wendy’s mind is of course not in the mood at the moment to enjoy presenting a television program. The same applies to her husband Erland Galjaard, who until recently worked at Talpa.”
Erland has now stopped doing that. “But he still makes music with you, Ronald. I assume he can’t perform in front of full houses?” Bart asks his colleague Ronald Molendijk.
At a distance
Ronald agrees. “No no. We are currently producing remotely. Our WhatsApp is a big musical back-and-forth app.”
Bart: “He can’t even come to you alone in the studio?”
Ronald: “That could be possible, but I’d rather not.”
Patty Brard: “In addition, Ronald is also here with a lot of people. They’re really trying to limit that.”
Ronald: “It is a vulnerable situation, so prevention is better.”
Very close
How is Wendy’s family coping? Ronald: “Very strong. As a family they have always been very close and strong and these kinds of things make you even more aware of the fact that the rest is all secondary. I also take my hat off to Lizzy who handles it extremely cool and well.”
Bart: “Wendy said that too, that she wanted to emphasize that she really is such a tough girl at 13 years old. As positive as she looks in it… It also looks positive. Wendy says: ‘We have the best doctors, we work in the LUMC in Leiden’, because fortunately it became clear soon after the first blood tests that it was not cancer, because that was the first concern.”
Happy with John
Lizzy no longer goes to school every day, according to Bart. “She just has to not get sick now, so that is very important.”
In addition to Who of the Three, there is also a drama series with Wendy and another program on hold put. “She says: ‘I am very happy with the channel management and John de Mol who have given me all the time and peace to solve this problem at home.’ That is of course very nice.”