Family head René Bogaart is proud of the tv debut. ‘We watched it together with great pleasure’, he says cheerfully. ‘My phone exploded with all the reactions!’ What prompted René to be so open about his finances? ‘We were approached by two different TV producers six months ago.’ This search by production companies cannot be seen separately from the great success surrounding reality TV and entrepreneurs: the programme about Peter Gillis on SBS6 is a big draw for viewers, while the series about pickle millionaire Oos Kesbeke is a resounding success on RTL and Videoland.
Animals
Once they had coffee with the Bogaartjes, the directors became wildly enthusiastic. ‘A company, the big family and the big house with lots of animals: They thought it all looked exciting’, the entrepreneur laughs. ‘But once they started talking to the TV channels, the turd was retracted. Talpa wanted to do something with Gordon for SBS, RTL also didn’t see anything in it for now. I thought that was a shame, I would have preferred to have my own program.’ Then producer Skyhigh came up with another plan: participation in Waar doen ze het van?, which had already been sold to the EO. ‘We gave it a chance.’
Openness
The program promises the viewer complete openness in finances. ‘That’s the hardest part’, says Bogaart. ‘You really let them look at the bank account. That produces the funniest situations. I only found out this way that my wife has several lottery tickets, and she discovered that I buy coffees at the gym and secretly pay for them with her debit card. Those are funny images.’
Bogaart also wants to build houses for his children around his own home. ‘Those conversations are also in the program, we are honest about it and then the millions fly over the table. But that is part of this format.’
Advertising for the catering industry
The biggest reason for Bogaart to participate is to promote the family business and the hospitality industry. ‘We want to go national with our Pavarotti restaurants, so the attention is welcome. But I especially hope to give our sector a more positive image. Hospitality work has a bad reputation; if you work in the hospitality industry after the age of 25, you are laughed at. The stigma is that you can’t earn a penny there, but that hasn’t been the case for a long time. My daughter has friends with university degrees who earn €3,500 a month, but good hospitality employees with us come home with €4,500. People also wrongly think that we only work boring hours. TV can help us to put the sector in a positive light.’
Still own program
Bogaart thinks that viewers will enjoy his family in the program. ‘People will especially love my wife. I’m half a minister, but she’s really nice. She speaks in one-liners all day, buys the craziest clothes at the Hague market and is very busy with all the animals. Next week, the conversation at the coffee machine will be about her in many places.’
And will that own program come after all? ‘I think so. We are now a small part of a larger program, but didn’t the greatest footballers also start at a smaller club? And Martien Meiland also got his own show via a roundabout route, but in the end ‘De Meilandjes’ became the cork on which SBS6 floated.’ He winks. ‘So I’ll calmly wait for John de Mol to call.’
