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“I feel your energy in everything I do.” Belle Perez (50) has looked back on a particularly difficult period on social media. Wouter van der Horst, the singer’s husband, died unexpectedly at the end of last year from a brain aneurysm. He was barely 43 years old. “The past few months have been terrible. How lost I am without you.”
Sandie Stroobants
Showbiz journalist
The singer’s message comes a few days after it became clear that she will appear on stage again this summer. Last weekend it was announced that Belle will perform at the Afro-Latino festival in Genk on Friday, July 17. In a new announcement, Belle’s management now announces that she will resume her professional activities step by step from next weekend. Initially, the singer will mainly perform at private events, but the goal is to be fully ready for her audience again by the summer.
Loyal lion
In a new message on Instagram, the singer also reflects on the loss of her husband Wouter. “One flash in your head and the light went out. Our goodbye was so abrupt, so unreal. Even in my dreams, my subconscious still does not accept that you are gone,” says a series of family photos. “As if you sensed what was going to happen, our conversations were even more intense in the last weeks and days before we said goodbye. You are now in a place where I can no longer follow you, but I feel your energy in everything I do. You watch over us like a loyal lion and give us a gentle push in the right direction when necessary.”
“We have had the time of our lives for the past 18 years, with Ellía as the icing on the cake. You must be so proud of him. How he carries this immense sadness as a 9-year-old is extraordinary. You are his superhero forever,” he continues. “And we continue to send up soap bubbles and helium balloons with our stories, especially with the words that we miss you terribly every day.”
Best therapy
“I have lost my best friend and it seems like I have to learn to breathe again with the pain that you are no longer there,” Belle continues. “But more than ever, I feel that music is my best therapy. I’m going to look for a new version of myself, because you took a part of me with you. I’m going to try, sweetheart. You wouldn’t want anything more. Forever ‘WE’.”
To conclude, the singer thanks her fans. “Thank you everyone for your unconditional support on all sides. On behalf of both families, Ellía and myself. I still don’t have an answer to the question of how I feel, so if you meet me, give me your biggest smile, sing and dance along with me and then we will forget everything together.”
