Everything about the casting weekend of Expeditie Robinson

So, it took a while, friends, but finally I can announce how it went during the casting weekend of experienced Expedition Robinson. Two words? Amazing. And intense. Because holy moly, it was.

The night before The Big Day, I of course couldn't sleep at all. Do you know how sh*tty it is when you're a control freak and have no idea what to expect? Yes, okay, I knew we had to come to the secret location (the Island of Maurik, so. Uh, yes, I had never heard of that either.) and that we had to bring sportswear and could get ‘wet’. Okay, mom: help.

While you all slept in during the Easter weekend, hunted eggs, and spent time with family, my alarm went off on Easter Sunday at 6:30 AM. No joke. By half past 8, I was in Maurik. On a gigantic terrain where Mud Masters-like scenes were definitely going to take place. We gathered with 100 people (pretty funny by the way to see everyone from ‘the top 50 videos’ in real life, but ROSITA, FRIEND, WHERE WERE YOU?!) and were then divided into four groups of 25. I was team yellow. Team yellow was the shit, you get it.

It's almost impossible to put the casting into words if you haven't been there. Let's just say it's my biggest challenge so far. Gathering those five thousand votes wasn't that hard. Now came that effing obstacle course. Let's just say I went FULL face-first through the mud. Over wooden obstacles and rubber bands. Crawling on my belly through the sand. Hanging on ropes, running through the bushbush. Seriously, you should have seen me go, it was hi-larious. My condition too, by the way. Then into the ice-cold water (underwater and three panic attacks later) on the way to the finish. The pony? That was über dead biiig time. The eyeliner? For that cremation, you will soon receive a letter. I gave everything I had. Only to end up as a shivering reed with twenty complete strangers in the dressing room. Just to take a warm shower. And when you find MUD in your ears, belly button, and thong, I think you can be proud of yourself.

‘But hey, being proud of a bit of mud in your pants doesn't mean you're there yet’

We were also tested on our team play skills as potential candidates. Within three minutes, I found myself with my crotch in the neck of a guy (very normal) to build a human tower on the smallest possible piece of sail. Also known as next level Twister-shit. Then we were asked one by one for a psychological test. Chatting with someone from production in a box of two by two and having no idea what they are looking for is quite an adventure. To you? Or to your neighbor? Secretly, you drive yourself a bit crazy during a casting.

At the end of the day, we were all called together on a large grassy field for ‘the island council’. THE URN (!) was magically produced. Okay, honestly? At that moment, I could peacefully die. Dennis Weening walked up and addressed the group. Long story short: we are with a hundred people and thirty will go through. One by one, he pulls the notes with the names out of the urn. The first person. Applause and cheers. People congratulate each other. Another ten people are chosen. I only focused on that urn. One name after another is drawn and suddenly the what-if-I-don't-get-chosen? feeling creeps in. You can't seriously think that my walrus convulsions in that cold water went unnoticed by the crew? That's already television in itself, right? And okay, okay, I may have smuggled some cigarettes onto the Maurik terrain, but to arrest me for that? I even swapped my heels for Adidas shoes! The last ten names are drawn. My name is in there. For sure. My name. I start wiggling my feet in the grass. Dennis pulls a note. I look, with squinted eyes. My breath catches. He turns the note over... AND THEN...

So finally, my own GTST cliffhanger. Always wanted to do that. You know what? Tomorrow I'll make it right, I promise.

Did Kiki make it or not? You read it here...