“It’s still weird. I often forget it too,” says Irma about her sudden fame. “When people approach me, it always hits me.” When asked how often she is addressed, the interpreter replies that it is on a daily basis. “I am approached once every day.”
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Since her national fame, Irma has often been asked to appear in programs, but she said no to everything. “I was overwhelmed. I’m an interpreter and I want to stay that way. I’m not going to sit on a game show or talk at a table. But maybe if I can do something useful with it, then I will.”
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And she found that useful. From Saturday Irma can be seen in the new youth program Hands Up in which she teaches Dutch celebrities to speak in sign language. “I did not want to be a presenter and also not a jury member, so we looked for a form that I could agree with. And if I can manage with my fame that such a program comes on the tube, then I want to participate in that.”
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