In conversation with Chantal Janzen

(About the Televizier Ring Gala, her own talk show and the baby news)

A few weeks ago, Chantal this photo posted a picture of her baby belly on Instagram and in no time the internet exploded. How is her pregnancy going now? What can we expect from the new talk show &Chantal? And what happened with that Televizier Ring Gala dress? Chantal is going like a rocket and you understand: we had to talk to her.

Chantal, you are in a very exciting period. A baby on the way, a brand new show, how do you feel?

“Now I feel good! I have a lot of energy. But to be honest: this summer was terrible. I was so nauseous and sick all the time. That was really intense. Luckily, the work part fell exactly during the vacation. Now I’m pretty much over the nausea phase.”

I can imagine that it also gives you peace of mind once the big news is out. How did you take your clothing into account?

“That was quite tricky. If you want to keep it to yourself, you suddenly wear looser clothes. But apparently, I didn’t have any. So I suddenly started buying sweaters in size M instead of size S. Once it was known, I told my husband: ‘YES, I can wear my own clothes again.’ I had to think so much about what I could and couldn’t wear, and now I don’t have to anymore.”

I read that you had to wear a different dress last minute at the Televizier Ring Gala “That’s right. We had invited the whole neighborhood to zip up that dress and it really didn’t work. A week before, it fit perfectly, but suddenly my belly seemed to ‘drop’ or something. I had already been in makeup and thought: just quickly get into the dress, and suddenly the zipper only went halfway. Yes, then panic sets in.”.

“Klopt. We hadden de hele buurt ervoor uitgenodigd om die rits dicht te maken en dat ging echt niet. Een week daarvoor paste ‘ie nog prima, maar ineens leek mijn buik meer te ‘zakken’ ofzo. Ik was al in de make-up geweest en dacht: nu nog even snel in de jurk, en ineens ging de rits maar tot halverwege. Ja, dan slaat de paniek wel even toe.”

I can imagine that. And then?

“Then I thought: yes, what do I actually have hanging? Haha. Believe me: that’s never a good idea. That silver dress was in hindsight not the best choice. But I had nothing else and it’s a live show. I couldn’t just say: I’m not coming because my dress doesn’t fit anymore.”

Didn’t you find it exciting to present that award while you were the only one who knew you were pregnant?

“No, I actually didn’t have much trouble with that. From all the hopping and pushing, I felt nauseous, so I had more trouble with feeling so bad. Normally, I watch the show to get a feel for the atmosphere, but now I really went last minute. I just thought: okay, calm down, calm down. Swallow and move on. No, it was all not a success.”

There were a lot of people wondering why you weren’t nominated for the Silver Televizier Star yourself. You were on the sidelines, right?

“I won three years in a row and the organization decided to exclude you from nominations for a year. Yvon Jaspers had that once too. She won four years in a row and got quite a bit of criticism for that. So I thought: just implement this rule. So yes, I’m fine with it.”

Tell me about your own Saturday night show &Chantal…

“I missed the theater life. Not the schedule, but the singing, dancing, and entertainment. I thought: what if you combine all the things you’ve done so far into one program? Entertaining people is what I love to do the most. I sing with someone, for someone, there will be interviews, we dance… It’s going to be really fun.”

Sounds a bit like Paul de Leeuw, doesn’t it?

“I hope so! Paul is really the king of that in the Netherlands. What we will do at &Chantal is work with a different theme every week. The first theme is ‘I’ve got the power’ and based on that theme, guests will be invited who fit this.”

A little hint then. Can you say something about your first guests?

“Okay. For I’ve got the power, we obviously had to invite the power man of the Netherlands: kickboxing champion Rico Verhoeven. The Lama’s are coming and Gloria Estefan and her husband Emilio. But I also think it’s fun to invite not only famous people; many unknowns will also have their say who relate to the theme.”

Are you nervous about the reactions? Such a completely self-conceived personality show on Saturday night is no small feat.

“I’m looking forward to it. Everything we do, we do for the first time. In such a first season, not everything will go exactly as you expected; something like that has to grow. And I mainly hope to get the chance to gain experience and develop myself.”

&Chantal will be on air from October 28 at 9:30 PM on RTL 4. Oh and, if you can’t get enough: the new season of Chantal Blijft Slapen starts tonight. Excited.

P.S.: This fun video already seen where May drove Chantal towards John de Mol?