“It made my career in media more difficult”: Erika van Tielen recalls her participation in the film “The Smartest Person” | television

In 2010, Erika Van Tielen sat in the famous orange chairs, but her experience with the “smartest person in the world” still influences the actress today. “Every year it takes a few weeks and then I think: I was also involved in this, but it made my position in the media landscape more difficult.” “I was suddenly everywhere,” she says now in De Morgen. “As a result, I had to To fight for years against an image that does not match my identity. I could not cross Werchter’s meadow without being attacked 635 times. As if I was no longer a real person, but some kind of icon. Everyone saw only the beautiful girl, and no one wondered what I could do.

“At one point, I heard a commercial on my own show in a Brussels studio, where a guy approached me and said, ‘Hey Erica van Tielen, would you like to go out on a date?’ That was a campaign I knew nothing about. There was even Facebook group: “On a date with Erica van Tielen.” She just turned into dating material. “And it affected me incredibly hard. Even people who should have known better agreed with the vibe. “We can’t choose you, because to the audience you’re just this pretty girl.” Can I ever break free from that image? This has haunted me for years. Like I had to defend myself every time before I could get to this point,” she concludes.

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