The 10th anniversary of Patty Brard's participation in "Sterren Springen Op Zaterdag"
Ten years ago precisely, on August 25th, 2012, Patty Brard's failed dive on SBS6's celebrity diving competition "Sterren Springen Op Zaterdag" caused a sensation in the Netherlands. This special TV moment boosted Patty's career and was used as a publicity stunt to promote the Celebrity Splash! format worldwide.
Here's one of the most important episodes in La Brard's life.
Background
In May 2011, after being a well-known face on SBS6 for four years and hosting successful programs (including Shownieuws, De Nieuws Uri Geller, Wie Ben Ik? and K2 Zoekt K3), Patty's contract with Sanoma and Talpa, which owned SBS Nederland at the time, was not extended.
The enfant terrible of Dutch showbiz rapidly bounced back and appeared on RTL 4's popular reality show "Diva's draaien door" with Patricia Paay and Tatjana Simic in September and October 2011.
The divas' program was so successful that the ladies planned a second season and wanted
to record an album together and go on tour. None of these projects materialized.
In the meantime, Marga Scheide announced Luv's definitive break-up on NOS/Radio 1 as Patty's activities with "De Diva's" overshadowed the girl group. The original Luv' trio (Patty Brard, Marga Scheide and José Hoebee) gave a final live performance on August 11th, 2012, at the Dutch Valley Festival in Spaarnwoude, the Netherlands.
The last show of the original Luv' trio
After this emotional farewell show, Patty's future was uncertain and her career reached rock bottom. An unexpected media event saved her life...
Patty was one of the contestants who took part in the celebrity diving competition "Sterren Springen Op Zaterdag" broadcast on SBS6, the channel that previously fired her. Liza Sips, Dirk Taat, Ralf Mackenbach, Raynor Arkenbout, Yuri van Gelder, Jody Bernal, Patty Brard, Arijan van Bavel, Liesbeth Kamerling, Kelly van der Veer, Kimberley Klaver, Myrthe Mylius, 'Terror' Jaap Amesz, Emile Ratelband, Marian Mudder, Kleine Viezerik, Justine Pelmelay and Pauline Wingelaar were the other celebrities who appeared on the program. Pop star and Patty's influential friend, Gerard Joling, hosted the TV show.
Patty Brard and the other VIPs during the press presentation of "Sterren Springen Op Zaterdag" on August 22nd, 2012
Sterren Dansen Op Zaterdag premiered on August 25th, 2012 on SBS6. The show drew 1.523.000 viewers (market share: 19.2%) according to Stichting KijkOnderzoek, the Dutch audience measurement company. It won the ratings war against "Strictly come dancing" (AVRO/Nederland 1) and "Beat the best" (RTL 4). The highlight of the show was Patty's dive which made television history.
La Brard made a memorable entrance dressed in a black glittery swimsuit as "The Best" by Tina Turner was played. Here's what happened:
The prima donna, who was overweight at the time, failed to dive correctly and injured her lips. Her infamous jump was in the headlines the next days in Holland. It was the second time that the ex-Luv' singer enjoyed publicity after a celebrity competition. In 2007, her funny performance on SBS6's figure skating competition "Sterren Dansen Op Het Ijs" had been a heavily covered media event and relaunched her TV career. So would history repeat itself?
Patty Brard & Gerard Joling on "Sterren Springen Op Zaterdag"
Patty suffered from a terrible backache after her first dive. But she didn't give up and was through to the semi-final which drew 1.467.000 viewers (market share: 20.3%) on September 8th, 2012. The larger-than-life media personality was eliminated and didn't make it to the final.
Patty Brard with Tess Milne and Gerard Joling during Sterren Springen's semi-final
Despite her elimination, Patty executed a dive during the final (1.345.000 viewers/market share: 18.1%) to raise funds via SMS charity donations for a six-year-old boy (Reinout) diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. This surprising performance was a way to keep Patty on Sterren Springen Op Zaterdag as her presence boosted the viewing figures. Dutch actress Liza Sips won the first season of the diving competition.
Gerard Joling & Patty Brard during Sterren Springen's final
Celebrity Splash: an international hit!
TV professional Reinout Oerlemans, the happy CEO of Eyeworks, the production company
which developed "Sterren Springen Op Zaterdag", gave an interview on the high-rated VARA/Nederland 3's talk show "De Wereld Draait Door" on September 28th, 2012. The businessman told that he used "Patty's failed dive" as a publicity stunt to promote "Celebrity Splash" (the international name of "Sterren Springen") worldwide. The success of this program took everybody by surprise. Indeed it was the absolute Nr. 1 show during the opening weekend of the 2012-2013 TV season with 1.4 million viewers and a market share of 26.8% in the target group 20-49.
Reinout Oerlemans on De Wereld Draait Door
Eyeworks successfully promoted Celebrity Splash at the MIPCOM (the world's entertainment content market) in Cannes, France in October 2012. The show was adapted by twenty-five TV networks around the world, including ABC in the USA, TF1 in France and RTL in Germany.
A billboard promoting "Celebrity Splash" in front of the Palais des Festivals in Cannes in October 2012
Patty Brard used for the international promotion of Celebrity Splash
The website of B&T (Australia's leading title for the advertising, marketing, media and PR industries) posted an article about Celebrity Splash's global success and mentioned Patty Brard as the "kind of big deal in the Low Countries".
Patty: "Happy days are here again!"
Due to Celebrity Splash's overnight popularity around the globe, the former Luv' member rose like a phoenix from the ashes.
January 2013 saw her comeback on SBS6's infotainment program "Shownieuws" as a showbiz expert. At that time, the diva worked as a freelance TV host for RTL 5 (on reality shows "Wie is de Reisleider?", "Echte Meisjes op de Prairie" and "Lust, Liefde Of Laten Lopen") and SBS6 (on "Shownieuws" and as a judge on the ski jumping competition "Vliegende Hollanders: Sterren van de Schans").
From late August 2013 to late August 2017, Patty had an exclusive contract with SBS6. In addition to the popular "Shownieuws", she scored a string of hits and flops on the channel:
Show Vandaag (2013-2014) - infotainment program
Bonje Met de Buren (2014–2016) - a reality show co-hosted with Jochem van Gelder to solve problems between neighbours
Patty's Big Fat Ibiza Wedding (2014) - a reality show about the preparations for her wedding with Dutch architect Antoine van de Vijver
Mindmasters Live (2015) - a paranormal show featuring Uri Geller and Patty as a panellist
Thuis op Zondag (2016) - Sunday talk show
Met de Deur in Huis (2016) - comedy panel game show hosted by Kees Tol and Tineke Schouten with Patty as a panellist
De Wereld Rond In 6 Stappen (on SBS6's sister channel Net5, 2016) - reality program about the theory of "six degrees of separation" with Bridget Maasland
Mud Masters VIP (2016) - challenging obstacle course based on military training with celebrities
SBS Sterren Surprise (2016) - a Christmas program featuring TV personalities who fulfilled the dreams of people
Stem van Nederland (2017) - a political program related to the general elections in the Netherlands
In 2017, John de Mol's company, Talpa TV, took control of SBS6 and its sister channels Net5,
Veronica and SBS9. During the summer of 2017, Karin de Groot (director of Talpa TV) told Patty that she wasn't "fresh and fruity anymore". Miss Brard felt offended and preferred to leave the commercial TV network on August 30th, 2017, to start a new chapter in her life and career.
In early 2018, she underwent gastric bypass surgery and eventually lost 40 kilos.
Between September 2017 and March 2019, she was freelancing again for several channels.
During this period, her most significant TV projects were:
Brard & Jekel: VetGelukkig?! (NPO 3, 2018) - co-hosted with Diederik Jekel
Het Perfecte Plaatje (RTL 4, 2018) - a celebrity photo contest that she won
RTL Late Night met Twan Huys (featuring the entertainment news section "De Week van Patty", RTL 4, 2018-2019)
Dutch version of Hotter Than My Daughter (RTL 5 - 2019)
Expeditie Schoonmoeder (TLC, 2019)
Back to Talpa
In March 2019, due to her weight loss, she signed a 4-year deal with Talpa TV. One year later, Patty revealed in her best-selling biography that her contract stipulated that if she gained weight, she would be fired.
Patty Brard signing a 4-year contract with TV director of Talpa Network Marco Louwerens on March 22nd, 2019.
Since her return on SBS6, the TV shows hosted by Patty were disappointing in terms of viewing figures.
The infotainment program "6 inside" (2019) was a complete failure.
The repair show "Zo Goed Als Nieuw" (2019) scored mediocre TV ratings (except for the episode featuring the Meiland family whose presence boosted the program).
The celebrity figure skating competition "Dancing On Ice" (2019) had a promising start: the two first episodes were successful but the next ones lost the ratings war against the other TV networks.
Patty en Gordon op zoek naar de eeuwige jeugd (2020) - a travel show featuring Gordon and Patty (in search of eternal youth) which reached unsatisfactory viewing figures. The duo was supposed to co-host a talk show but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this project was shelved.
Patty's appearances on De 5 Uur Show (2020-2021) didn't improve its bad viewing figures.
De Grote Huisverbouwing (2021-2022), a home renovation show, suffered the same fate as the above-mentioned TV projects.
At the moment, Shownieuws is the only TV program that keeps Patty active on TV regularly. This situation raises several questions: Has La Brard lost the Midas touch on SBS6? If the succession of misadventures goes on, will her presence on TV be compromised? Will her exclusive contract with Talpa end in March 2023?
Patty has other strings to her bow in addition to television. The entertainer has connections with the music world and can release new music. Since February 2020, she has launched successful collections of panther-print household items at Kruidvat (a Dutch chain of drugstores).
Source: Luv' weblog archives
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