Make-up artist Jelleke van Rijkind is one of the few former employees who isknown by name and surname in the illustrious Volkskrant article on theculture of fear The world goes on tells. Bee Beau the make-up artist opensa book.
Van Rijkind tells Beau van Erven Dorens that she is “very relieved”. “I amvery happy that the story has finally been told. I am the journalists of deVolkskrant very grateful. I’ve been hoping for years that someone would pickup on the story and now it’s here.” She didn’t hesitate for a second whethershe wanted her (real) name with the article. “When I tell my experience as apermanent make-up artist of Matthijs, it is immediately clear that it is me.I’m not afraid, so I’m fine with my name in the paper.”
Former make-up artist at Beau: ‘In the beginning it was fun and exciting’
The make-up artist has known Matthijs van Nieuwkerk for a long time. Sheworked before the start of The world goes on been working with the presenterfor three years, including at Dutch Sports. In the first years nothing waswrong. “In the beginning it was very fun and exciting,” she says. Thingsturned around in 2005, although she finds it difficult to indicate onespecific point. “I think it has crept in slowly. I feel it came when anothereditor-in-chief came, Dieuwke. You noticed that Matthijs was much more tense,that he had anger outbursts quite often.”
She regularly drove tense to the studio. “Then I thought: how am I going tofind him? Is he happy, is he relaxed? It also happened that he had a good dayand was very charming. I always held on to that. That I thought: oh luckily,he is still as I know him from before. Then you can move forward.” But he alsooften had bad days, according to Van Rijkind. “Then he came from the editorialoffice and he was angry and grumpy. Then he would sit in the chair and justfeel everything like: something happened and I shouldn’t ask too much. Ialways found it very difficult to do his make-up and hair. You literally touchsomeone, so you really feel the tension.”
Van Rijkind does not think that Van Nieuwkerk alone is to blame for theculture of fear. “It’s how we all treated him at The world goes on. We puthim on a pedestal way too much. No one has ever been critical of him. I thinkthat was very wrong.”
The bomb bursts: Van Nieuwkerk does not trust hairdryer
In September 2011 the bomb bursts. “Suddenly he wanted to see my hairdryer. Hethought maybe it was because of my hair dryer that his hair wasn’t setproperly. Then I thought: I’ll go along with that, but of course that doesn’tmake any sense at all. I showed my hair dryer a day later and he looked at ita bit, but I don’t think he knew what to do with it either. He was justlooking for something to kick me out. I felt that very well at the time.”
What she fears happens. Two days later, Van Rijkind receives a call fromproduction. “They said: ‘You don’t have to come anymore.’ Why, they did notknow and did not find out. They asked Matthijs the reason, but he did not wantto say that.” To this day, Van Rijkind has no idea why she was sent away. “Ofcourse I didn’t let it go. I emailed him, called him, used all sorts of waysto get in touch with him. It did not work.”
After Van Nieuwkerk kicks her out, she can continue to do the guests. “But heno longer wanted to see me, so I was no longer allowed to work in the largemake-up room, only in a kind of large cubicle. Then I said: this is reallygoing too far, I’m really not going to do this.”
A few months later, she bumps into Van Nieuwkerk during the Summit 2000. Atthat time a publication had just appeared in Privé about the atmosphere at_The world goes on_. Despite the fact that Van Rijkind did not participate inthis, Van Nieuwkerk thinks so. “I came there with my suitcases and Matthijsstarted shouting: ‘You are responsible for that Private piece. I don’t want tosee you anymore and you have to get out of here.’ Where everyone was present,because there was a kind of pre-discussion / rehearsal going on. Then I wantedto talk to him, but that really wasn’t possible anymore. He was very angry.”When she returns home, van Rijkind calls her lawyer and together they manageto sleep an amount before her departure from the fire. In return, she is notallowed to talk about it. “That has eaten away at me for years.”
‘I would like to talk to him’
She is doing well now, although she has to leave The world goes on lefttraces. “I feel very safe. I have another job, a permanent contract and I amcompletely out of the world of TV. The burden I have now is that I still havea voice in the back of my head that says: it could just be over. That feelingis still there after all these years.”
“I would really like to talk to him,” she says. What would she say then?“Matthijs, do you have any idea how you damaged me and all those others? Itwould be very good to talk to us and say sorry. To show that you are reallysorry, because that is still lacking.”
You can watch Beau back via RTL XL.