Sonja Bakker has flown to Ibiza after multiple accusations of plagiarism and for the time being she is putting her career on hold. For a long time Bakker’s diet books were sold like fresh egg cakes, but that has come to an abrupt end. How did she become so successful, and where did it go wrong?
When Bakker is in her early twenties, she starts at LOI with courses in nutrition and weight consultant, and also takes a course in orthomolecular nutrition. She cannot call herself a dietitian with this, because a full study has to be followed for that, but weight consultant is not a protected title. In 1997 she started her own practice in her hometown of Hoorn, which she sold in 2003.
Bakker wants to share her knowledge and recipes with a wider audience through a book. Her search for a publishing house goes awry and so she starts her own publishing house, De Zonnestraal. In 2004 she released her self-financed debut Reach your ideal weight from. The book is full of ready-made weekly menus and recipes.
The recipes are accessible and no ingredients are banned, so sales are booming. The book has been in the top ten of best-selling books for more than a year.
Sonja Bakker during a presentation of one of her books in 2014.
Sonja Bakker during a presentation of one of her books in 2014. Photo: BrunoPress
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SAS’s become a concept
‘Sonja Bakkeren’ is becoming a trend: en masse people eat egg cakes (a common snack in the menus composed by Bakker) and drink liters of water. The SAS day, the ‘Shit On Sonja day’, is also becoming a household name. On this day, followers of their diet book guru are allowed to loosen the reins and not stick to the fixed menus for a while. The Bakker empire is being expanded with an online slimming program, which is even offered in a package from a large insurer.
There is also criticism. People think Bakker’s diet is too strict and she mentions too many A-brands, while there are (cheaper) alternatives on the shelves. And Bakker is accused of plagiarism for the first time, and it won’t be the last: fellow consultant Bea Pols says that Bakker has literally copied sentences from her book.
Bakker, who is on the cover of her books, is becoming an increasingly well-known face. She writes columns for newspapers and magazines and becomes a presenter of Your real age in SOS Sonja† She also lectures on nutrition and health and in 2008 published her own magazine.
Sonja Bakker presents her own magazine, in 2009.
Sonja Bakker presents her own magazine, in 2009. Photo: ANP
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Too much work leads to burnout
Another book will be published together with presenter Rik Felderhof, with whom Bakker has now become friends. When Bakker subsequently announces that she is going to divorce her husband Koen Lenting, gossip that she is having an affair with Felderhof becomes more persistent. It seems to be a stain on her book sales: the numbers are still good, but no longer comparable with years before.
In 2009 Bakker notices that the extensive work, in combination with the difficulties in her private life, is becoming too much for her. She has a burnout and temporarily stops writing and her other activities.
A year later, in the spring of 2010, she returns. “Sometimes you have to hit the bottom to get out,” she says in conversation with RTL Boulevard† She no longer does television jobs, she mainly wants to focus on her books. There will also be a collaboration with a supermarket chain, which is still ongoing.
Bakker has to go to court
Despite the fact that Bakker has been out of the spotlight for a while and other diet gurus have emerged in the meantime, her star continues to rise. She even ends up in 66th place in the Quotelist of the richest Dutch under the age of forty.
Bea Pols, who already accused Bakker of plagiarism in 2006, threw a spanner in the works again in 2015. The judge sees that the books of both women resemble each other, but states that this is not surprising, given that Pols and Bakker followed their education at the same time. The overall impression of both books is completely different, the judge ruled, so Bakker does not need to change anything.
Bakker does not stop at diet books – she also writes a novel and several children’s books. She doesn’t appear much in the media anymore, except for many articles about her love life.
Baker has no more energy
Until 2021, when food blogger Silvia Ribas Dunnirvine comes out with her story. Several of her recipes are said to have been copied one-on-one on Bakker’s social media.
Other food bloggers and former employees are behind the accusations. Bakker admits the plagiarism, but is not guilty of anything herself: due to the corona period, her people are working from home, so the supervision of the messages posted is less good. She also comes with an announcement: she will stop writing cookbooks. In March this year, Bakker is welcomed by the owners of foodblog Foodsisters again accused of plagiarism.
On Wednesday, Bakker will again announce that she will stop working for an indefinite period. In conversation with The Telegraph she tells that she has no energy to continue with her work and that she has left for Ibiza. Bakker does not rule out the possibility that she will crawl behind the writing table again. “When everything has settled in, maybe I just want to guide people one-on-one to lose weight again. Back to basics.”
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