Hanne Verbruggen (28) thought for a long time that she would not be able to combine her K3 career with children. Until she got married and changed her mind. “I thought: ‘If I want that, I’ll get it done’, she says in Hey everyone† Her fellow K3s tell how they reacted to Hanne’s announcement.
–
ALSO READ. Hanne from K3 expecting first child
The dresses are made wider, the choreographies are simpler – “lifts are not obvious with a round belly” – and the planning is reconsidered: Hanne’s pregnancy has quite a big impact on K3. The chance that Hanne will complete the Dutch tour that starts in September seems small. Her baby was due in December. “If my body tells me it’s too much, I have to listen to it,” she says soberly. “We are now looking at what is possible. That is of course difficult, because we cannot plan everything. And if I can’t keep up anymore, I can feel a new program coming on: K2 is looking for Interim K3. (laughs)”
De Mechelse is optimistic about the combination of K3 and children, but she was not always that. “For a long time I thought that raising a child and being a K3 couldn’t be combined. But that has completely faded away. I thought, ‘If I want that, I’ll get it done.’ That’s not to say it’s going to be easy.”
She noticed that it is sometimes difficult to be a mom with a busy career when Kristel was still manager of K3. “When we were in the car together after a performance, she called her daughters. They asked when their mom was home, to which Kristel said: ‘In half an hour. Then you will sleep, but I have come to give you a big kiss.’ Then my heart broke because I realized it must be hard not to be there for your child in those little moments when it needs you.” Hanne is sure there will be “love and fun galore” when she is home.
For Marthe and Julia, their colleague’s pregnancy was a big surprise. “We fell out of the blue,” Marthe says. “Hanne had always put off having children, we thought she was not concerned with that at all.” Hanne explains that getting married changed everything: suddenly it felt “so natural” to have a baby with Jorn.
Apart from some fatigue, the little K3 has a pleasant pregnancy. Hanne and Jorn know the sex of the baby, but keep it a secret. They are still looking for a name. “I already knew it as a teenager, but now that the time has come, I doubt every name,” says Hanne. The couple still has about five months to think about it.
—
