So the candidates really deserve this by participating in Who is the Mole?

Whether you watch it or not, you definitely know it. Who is the Mole? has been on television since I was a little girl. Exciting, that green logo with the fingerprint, all those games and conspiracies.

Wonderful to watch. Yet I suddenly wondered something: those celebrities who are called up every year, how much do they actually earn?

Do you get paid to participate in WIDM? or not? You are certainly away from home for three weeks for that far trip. Participants who drop out are also not allowed to go home earlier than the rest. Then it is of course leaked who is the first to leave. No matter how famous some participants are: there is no compensation. So you participate for free. Or at least it's not much; some people speculate, just like guessing who the Mole is, that something is paid. You are participating with your famous face after all.

But AVROTROS does not make any statements about the salary, and it is an unwritten rule that former candidates also do not say anything about it, so nobody knows. Trust nobody, so to speak. Well, at least it's a nice package of experiences that you get as a gift when you participate.

You do get a wonderful trip (of a few weeks) for which you pay nothing. The game has had different presenters: the first five seasons were presented by Angela Groothuizen. Karel van de Graaf presented seasons six and seven, and then Pieter Jan Hagens took over the presentation for four years. Art Rooijakkers was the winner of season eleven and became the presenter of the program from the twelfth season. Since 2019, it has been presented by another former winner: Rik van de Westelaken. They certainly earn a nice amount for ‘participating’. And only the winner earns what is in the pot.

Well, it doesn't make it any less fun to watch.

Photo credit: Joy Hansson